AMMAN —
The former Israeli ambassador and member of the Institute for National Security
Studies in
Tel Aviv, Oded Eran, expressed doubt that accelerating a neglected
project to build a joint Israeli-Jordanian industrial zone straddling the banks
of the Jordan River, recently announced by Israel, would improve the
normalization of relations between the two countries.
اضافة اعلان
“I am hesitant to
say this signifies a normalizing of relations between Israelis and Jordanians,”
Eran told The Circuit news site last week.
“However, if this
project does finally come to a conclusion, it will be an important step,
psychologically, because it has become a lingering symbol of the failure of the
relations between
Israel and Jordan.”
“I think that in the Jordan-Israel context,
this industrial park is very important and should not be underestimated,” said
Eran, who served as the Israeli ambassador in Amman from 1997 to 2000, and was
head of the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations delegation in 1999–2000.
“General
unemployment in Jordan stands at 25 percent, while for women and the younger
generation it reaches 50 percent, so every additional place of employment is
important, and in general, it is important for Jordan’s economy,” he explained.
“The trend toward
normalization in Jordan is not encouraged or developed,” because of Israel’s
ongoing conflict with the Palestinians, said Eran, adding that there are even
forces actively working “against Jordan joining the framework of the Abraham
Accords”, the 2020 normalization agreement signed by Israel, the UAE, and
Bahrain. Sudan and Morocco agreed to normalize ties with Israel later that
year.
The former
ambassador cautioned that the political and demographic situation in Jordan is tricky
when it comes to Israel.
Relations between
the two countries have long been tense, with Jordan watching anxiously whenever
there is unrest at Jerusalem’s Muslim holy sites, which it formally oversees
under the current status quo. Actions by former prime minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, who proposed annexing the West Bank, and the launch of former
US president Donald Trump’s peace plan, only served to increase the pressure.
According to The
Circuit, the creation of a cross-border industrial park was initially outlined
in the peace treaty Israel and Jordan signed in 1994.
Within three
years, a Qualifying Industrial Zone was established in Irbid with the aim of
taking advantage of Israel’s Free Trade Agreement with the US.
That concept soon
transformed into the Jordan Gateway plan, or Jordan Gate, an economic zone
where citizens of each country could move freely within a designated “bubble”.
It added that
Jordan had set aside an area of roughly 12,000sq.m. for the project and today,
on the Jordanian side, sits a handful of manufacturing plants employing around
500 workers.
On the Israeli
side, which is slated to house a medical center and a high-tech park, the area
remains empty, held up by internal bickering among various governmental bodies
and security concerns.
In 2012, Israel
renewed efforts to fulfill its side of the project, appointing the Ministry of
Regional Cooperation to take charge of the plan and coordinate among all the
official parties.
A bridge
connecting the two banks of the river was completed in 2019, but still stands
unused, waiting for an official authority to facilitate crossings.
Israel’s regional
cooperation minister, Issawi Frej, told The Circuit that the Jordan Gateway was
“part of the major progress that we have carried out in strengthening relations
with Jordan in the past year”.
“We started with
the agreement to export water in exchange for solar energy and now have this
decision, which takes the vision of civil peace, not just between the countries
but also between the peoples, an additional step further,” he said.
An official
outline of Jordan Gateway, given to The Circuit, notes the benefits and
political importance of this joint economic-civic venture to both Israel and
Jordan, including providing Israel access to the wider Arab world and giving
Jordan access to the West.
“Beyond the
political importance of a joint economic-civic venture, the benefits to Jordan
from the venture are access to advanced technology, methods, and knowledge, and
approximately 10,000 jobs, as well as the possibility of marketing products
that will be manufactured in the park to Israel and/or through the port of
Haifa to Europe and the US,” the document read.
It added: “The
benefits for the private sector in Israel include access for Israeli products
to markets in the Arab world, production close to Israel at the costs of the
Jordanian market and business cooperation with entrepreneurs and investors from
Jordan and other Arab countries.”
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