Hussein King and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin made history when Israel once separated the desert mine from Jordan. It was October 1994 and the leaders of Jordan and Israel signed the peace treaty, turning the page on decades of war and hostility.
The iconic moment is not the result of a shared approach to peace between two young men, who are said to have a personal chemistry between them. Hussein, the king of emotion, declared that it was "nonexistent." It is "the horror of a new era of peace ... God is ready for us to be together. There will be no more death, no more misery, no doubt, no more fear, no more uncertainty."
But for 26 years, that vision seems like an illusion. The existence of a peace agreement - one of only two Israelis with the Arab world - is now in question.
"We ... are at the lowest level of the relationship ... ever since the peace deal was reached," Jordan's Prime Minister Omar Razaz told CNN in March. At the time, the relationship seemed to be renewed, as Israel and the Trump administration refused to make good promises to parts of the West Bank.
Now, the timetable may slip for a while, and Israel is on the verge of unilaterally declaring sovereignty over land, an important part of Jordan's foreign and domestic policy. This pushed Jordan sovereign King Abdullah into a corner.
Jordanians share more information about the international community when it comes to this issue: they say the West Bank announcement will kill both states for a long time. This undermines the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which named the future Palestinian state as the capital of East Jerusalem based on Israel's borders prior to 1967. The Jordanian emperor has long believed that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will not end the region's chaos, and the failure to bring back the Palestinians after US President Donald Trump's peace plan appears unlikely. In the Conversation table.
But for Jordan, this is not about peace in the region. The end of a two-state solution poses a potential threat to the state, jeopardizing its identity and future.
Relationships with Netanyahu have deteriorated
Relations between Israel and Jordan are further strengthened by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Jordanian officials have always been careful about him and his right-wing politics. But Trump's support has made it nearly impossible for Netanyahu to work with Jordanian officials.
According to a Palestinian media report quoting a Jordanian official in June, King Israel did not take the Prime Minister's call. Jordanian officials do not confirm or deny the widely publicized report in the Israeli media.
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office said the report was not true.
At the committee meeting, Jordan's foreign minister, Ayam Safadi, warned, "The message should be clear: the link does not answer. If it does, there will be only one uphill struggle for it.
Speaking of security and intelligence sharing, the two countries still maintain close ties. Historically, Jordan - small and lacking in resources - has always been important to Israel. In hostile environments, Jordan provided a buffer on Israel's eastern border and acted as an intermediary for Israel when needed.
But now Jordan's own interests are at stake. More than half of Jordan's population of 10 million is of Palestinian origin, and the country is home to 2 million Palestinian refugees. From Jordan's point of view, the future Palestinian state has the right to return these refugees and prevents the possibility of people moving forward. Without that state, Jordan could become a real destination for Palestinians - Jordan’s fears are in fact the ultimate goal of right-wing Israel.
If Netanyahu goes ahead with the plan on or after July 1, the immediate concern for the Jordanians is to ease the anger on their streets, making King Abdullah one of the most difficult positions in his two-decade rule.
The peace deal between the two countries has never received public support. There are growing calls for law and the people for the Empire to end the peace treaty and sever relations with Israel.
In May, the Emperor told the German publication Der Spiegel that if the connection continued, it would be "a huge conflict with Jordan." While not threatening to cancel the peace agreement, he said he was considering all options. This was his harsh warning to the Israelites.
It is unclear what "conflict" is, but unrest in the Middle East is always an opportunity for terrorism to flourish. In addition, an addendum - in part or in all - will convey to anyone who opposes peace with Israel in Jordan, and gives those who have the opportunity to tell them not to trust Israel. "Well, I told you so."
King options are limited. His country is heavily dependent on US aid, and Abdullah must walk carefully, with the US president threatening to withdraw aid from allies. Accepting US aid is dangerous for the country, especially as public discontent over the financial situation grows.
President Trump, who stood with King Abdullah at the White House Rose Garden in 2017, greeted his famous ally and promised to consult with the Emperor on the Israeli-Palestinian peace plan. But over the following months and years, Abdullah was sidelined and his advice ignored. Jordanian officials said they only saw the peace plan when it was unveiled in January.
These ties of shifting suggest that the Jordanian monarchy has sidelined the White House to prevent Republican and Democratic American lawmakers from directly appealing. King made several video calls with congressional leaders, including Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell, in mid-June.
Jordan's Foreign Minister Aman Safadi is engaged in a diplomatic marathon and is seeking international support to stop the Jordanian campaign. In mid-June, he made a rare visit to Ramallah, the official seat of the Palestinian Authority, in a demonstration of support for Palestine. He urged German, Austrian, Egyptian, Irish and Finnish foreign ministers, along with their Arab and Western counterparts, to make a series of calls and work to prevent aggression.
Jordan's efforts may not do much to thwart Israel's plan, but pressure from a more influential Arab nation could have a greater impact on Israel's decision-making.
In an unusual move, US Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Yusuf al Otaiba, in a daily Israeli article published in the Israeli language, called the liaison act "illegal seizure." He gave the ultimatum to Israel: it was attachment or generalization.
The UAE and other Arab Gulf countries are moving towards normalizing relations with Israel. The strategic relationship that Israel has been pursuing for years.
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