For both Jordan and Saudi Arabia, the recent Arab League summit (Amman, March 23-29, 2017) was an important event. Both countries sought to use the summit to reinforce their regional status, as well as to regulate their bilateral relations and highlight the gathering as a demonstration of inter-Arab solidarity. The Israeli government supports the idea of a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute within a broad regional framework, where Jordan will play a key role. Therefore, renewed dialogue and coordination between Jordan and...
Progress on implementing infrastructure projects for water and energy between Israel and Jordan indicates the positive potential inherent in separating economic and infrastructure progress in trilateral Jordan-Israel-Palestinian relations from progress on a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This statement is not meant to detract from the urgent necessity of reaching at least a gradual solution to the conflict based on the idea of two states for two nations. Rather, it indicates a reality of shortages of energy...
On September 20, 2016, Jordan held elections for its eighteenth parliament. That same day, King Abdullah II delivered his address at the United Nations General Assembly, praising his people for actively participating in the democratic process. By absenting himself from Jordan on election day, the king bowed to an international schedule he had no ability to change. Doing so, however, also signaled his confidence that the Jordanian voters would not opt for any major surprises liable to upset the balance of power between the monarchy...
Israel cannot ignore the procurement of advanced Russian weapons systems by its neighbors, or their accelerated entry into the nuclear field; these plans are liable to serve as a basis for obtaining greater know-how and as a cover for building nuclear weapons capability, certainly if the transfer of know-how includes enrichment capability. For its part, Russia is being careful to maintain positive relations with Israel, which it regards as an important regional player. Israel also regards Russia as a key player in the region, and the...
The Islamic State burst onto the Middle East scene as an entity whose conduct and very essence challenge the existing regional order. With its military conquests in Iraq and Syria, its establishment of branches elsewhere in the Middle East and beyond, its state-like governance in the areas under its control, and the cruelty it typically exhibits, the Islamic State has become the focus of regional and international interest and concern. The articles compiled in this volume examine ways of dealing with one of the most salient military,...
The December 30, 2014 vote in the Security Council is certainly an Israeli diplomatic victory, given the various resolutions of UN bodies of previous years and the resolutions that were adopted in recent months, for example, in several European parliaments. Whatever doubts existed as to how the US would handle the Palestinian move were removed by a very firm position during the weeks before the vote and the clarification, unquestionably conveyed to other members of the Security Council, that the US would veto even a softened version...
The hastily-arranged summit in Amman on November 13, 2014 produced the desired – albeit short term – benefits. King Abdullah appeared to be a voice of responsibility and moderation in an otherwise tense, hostile, and volatile region. He reemphasized his role as custodian of the Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem, a reliable partner of the United States, and a key ally in the battle against ISIS. However, the results of the summit should be seen as tenuous and temporary. Lip service was paid to efforts to resume a peace process, and...
The 20th anniversary of the Israel-Jordan peace treaty is not a holiday, nor is it a day of mourning. This treaty as well as the peace treaty signed between Israel and Egypt may be viewed as a disappointment; there is no warmth in relations between the two countries. On the other hand, the peace agreements with Jordan and Egypt provide the formal setting allowing cooperation that meets the vital interests of Israel and those of its two neighbors. Israel, interested in maintaining the stability of the existing regimes in Jordan and...
Jordan has a history of opposing extremism and presents a model of co-existence and acceptance of others. However, the phenomenon of normalizing extremism that has recently begun to emerge can be linked to social injustice, economic marginalization, and the failure to find a just solution to the Palestinian issue. All of these issues affect the public mood, creating a strained environment that poses an advantage for extremist ideologies in the Middle East. Three areas could help preempt adverse developments in this regard. One, the...
The fall of major Iraqi cities to Sunni extremists belonging to the Sunni group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) may well have implications beyond the borders of Iraq. Indeed, all of Iraq’s neighbors, as well as the United States, have cause for major worry about the immediate and long term implications of the recent developments. Paradoxically, a coalition of sorts has formed comprising countries that have an interest in nipping the ISIS territorial entrenchment in the bud. While the United States will need to take the leading...
On one level, less covered in the media, Jordan and Israel are developing a relationship based on shared economic interests and the need to cope with political and security constraints resulting from the turmoil in the region over the past three and a half years. At the same time, because of developments anticipated in the wake of the freeze of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, the internal Palestinian political process, the continued struggle in Syria, and the possible implications of a crisis with regional dimensions in the context...
The upheavals in Jordan’s strategic environment have sparked a heated debate on the social media regarding the identity of the Hashemite kingdom and Jordan’s relations with Israel. The response to the killing in March 2014 of Raed Zeiter, a Jordanian-Palestinian judge, at the Allenby Bridge crossing by IDF soldiers presents an illustrative case study in this matter. Following the incident, three main trends were evident in the intensive discussions on the social media: 1. There are strong differences in approach between the various...
