The long and convoluted history of the Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty, now 28 years
old, has seen many ups and downs, but the leaders of the two countries have
always sought to give the fragile and frigid peace a new lease on life.
اضافة اعلان
In September 1997, King Hussein threatened then
prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu with abolishing the peace treaty unless
Israel sent an antidote needed to save the life of Hamas leader Khaled Mashal,
who was a victim of an assassination attempt by Mossad in the heart of Amman.
Netanyahu relented.
Between then and now, relations between the two
passed through, and survived, numerous tests. The killing of seven Israeli
schoolgirls by a Jordanian soldier in March 1997 in a border area forced King
Hussein to visit Israel and apologize to the families of the bereaved. An
Israeli soldier killed a Jordanian judge in cold blood as he crossed the bridge
into the West Bank in 2014. The killer was never prosecuted. And in 2017, an
Israeli guard shot dead two Jordanians at the embassy compound in Amman. He was
repatriated and was never charged, despite promises that he would be held
accountable.
But the real threat to peace between the two
countries was always going to be the dispute over custody of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem.
Jordan had severed ties with the West Bank in 1988, except for its
responsibility, which extends decades before the Israeli occupation of 1967,
toward what Muslims call Al-Haram Al-Sharif or Noble Sanctuary, a 144-dunum
area in the heart of the old city. King Hussein and later King Abdullah made
sure that the Hashemite custodianship of the compound was a red line never to
be crossed in bilateral ties.
Unlike the first Arab country that had signed a
peace treaty with Israel, Egypt, which has long settled all territorial
disputes with Israel, ending with the return of Taba in 1989, for Jordan the
final disengagement from the West Bank was incomplete. Israel had agreed to
“respect the present special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in the Muslim
holy shrines in Jerusalem” under the 1994 peace treaty. That meant respecting
the historical status quo under which the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf continues
to administer the compound, where visitors have access under its supervision.
But while Muslims consider the compound and all it
includes an exclusively Muslim site, as it has been for over a millennium, a
rising element of Jewish extremists alleges, with no archaeological proof, that
Al-Aqsa stands on the ruins of Solomon’s temple. This claim has become part of
the mainstream dogma as religious right-wing parties began dominating the
Israeli political stage.
When Likud leader Ariel Sharon made his
controversial visit to the Al-Aqsa compound in 2000, he triggered what became
known as the Second Intifada. That breach was a watershed moment that ushered
in more provocative “visits” to the compound. The issue became a festering
wound in future Jordan-Israel ties. Over the past few years, and under
Netanyahu governments, the provocations became more regular, causing several
showdowns between King Abdullah and Netanyahu.
But even then, Netanyahu never challenged the
Jordanian custodianship of Al-Aqsa directly, even though he permitted members
of his Cabinet to participate in unauthorized tours of the compound.
Israel has been veering to the right with every election cycle and it is a matter of time before this government or a future administration enforces the physical division of the mosque to appease extremist voters.
With the arrival of Naftali Bennett, a right winger
and supporter of Jewish settlers, Jordan, perhaps prematurely, believed that
tensions would recede over Al-Aqsa. King Abdullah wanted to prevent a repeat of
last May’s war between Israel and Hamas, triggered by assaults on Al-Aqsa by
settlers and religious groups during Ramadan. He met with top Israeli officials
in March in a bid to maintain calm. That did not happen. Instead, Bennett
escalated and pushed for a division of the compound, and making daily visits by
Jews a new reality. And on Sunday, he made the starkest challenge to the
Hashemite custodianship yet, by stating that there will be no foreign
interference in Israeli decisions concerning Jerusalem and the “Temple Mount”.
This, despite repeated assurances by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid that Israel
was still committed to respecting the historical status quo of Al-Aqsa.
Bennett, whose coalition government could fall any
time, is appealing to the far right and religious voters. But his remarks put Jordan
in a difficult position. Israel has been veering to the right with every
election cycle and it is a matter of time before this government or a future
administration enforces the physical division of the mosque to appease
extremist voters.
How Jordan would react is now the most important
question.
With limited leverage over Israeli politics,
Jordan’s options are limited and tough. A breakup with Israel would open
Pandora’s Box for both countries and usher in a religious war.
There is a message here for other Arab countries
looking to normalize ties with Israel, which is no longer the secular socialist
state that was envisioned by Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin, and Shimon
Peres. Israel is turning into an entity ruled by far right religious extremists
who openly embrace and practice racism and rule over the longest occupation of
modern times.
As Jordan is now learning, the peace that it had
concluded with Israel 28 years ago carries a hefty price, one that could have
deep domestic repercussions.
The
writer is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman.
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