June 11, 2012

The book considers that the failure to build a real peace between Israel and Jordan ten years after the conclusion of the agreement is generally due to the impossibility of separating the bilateral relations between the two parties on the one hand and the obstruction of the Israeli-Palestinian track on the other. The book begins with a historical overview of Jordanian-Israeli relations and provides a critical assessment of the relations between the two countries over the decade since 1994, the security arrangements that have remained in place despite these restrictions, the peace gains, and all the reasons why better trade relations have not been achieved. The book concludes with a discussion of future prospects, and finally reviews strategies and future possibilities for relations between Jordan and Israel.

Against this background, the usual question arises: “How is the past? It can be said that the prior developments and areas of misunderstanding (mainly on the Israeli side, and on the Jordanian side as well)” have contributed to the exacerbation of the fragile relations between the two countries. The intransigent Israeli policies towards the Palestinians, especially the construction of the notorious “separation” wall, have raised feelings of panic in Jordan, as many see these policies as a threat to Jordan’s survival and stability.

Israeli policies, if left unchecked or tied, will undermine the prospects for a solution based on the establishment of two Palestinian and Israeli states. Hence, the continuation of the status quo, and the changes in the demographic reality, will inevitably lead to the emergence of a bi-national state, in which the Palestinians constitute a clear majority. In other words, the realization of such a scenario on the ground will undermine the foundations and justifications on which the Zionist movement was built, which is the establishment of a Jewish state.

In this perspective, you may avoid such a nightmare by resorting to “transfer” by forcing Palestinians to immigrate to Jordan.

On this basis, the Jordanian government fears the possibilities of this catastrophic scenario