June 04, 2019
Trump's Israeli-Palestinian Policy: Undermining Jordan?
President Trump’s long-awaited plan for making peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians could have severe consequences for Jordan, one of America’s best, and oftentimes overlooked, partners in the Middle East. Although Trump’s plan may not be unveiled until after September’s Knesset elections (if it is ever fully revealed at all), the potential for the plan to cancel the two-state solution is a matter of great concern for the Jordanians. Far from welcoming the Trump team’s forthcoming peace plan, Jordanians at all levels of society, from the palace to the street, are expecting an American plan that will enact the Watan al-Badil, which means making Jordan an alternative homeland for the Palestinians and accepting Israel’s annexation of the West Bank. Jordan is a Palestinian majority nation, and at a time when endemic instability caused by political, social, and economic unrest inside Jordan appears to be the new normal, the question of Palestine would be accelerant to the fire in Jordan.
For more than half a century, the United States has regarded Jordan as an indispensable partner in an unstable region, working closely with Jordan to combat violent extremist organizations, mitigate the aftershocks of regional conflicts such as in Syria, and advancing the Middle East peace process. The U.S. is committed to Jordan’s security, stability, and prosperity to a degree that is almost unlike any other country on Earth, with the United States providing more than $20 billion in assistance to the Hashemite Kingdom since the 1950s. Jordan also hosts an estimated 2,000 U.S. military personnel and the Jordanians are close military and intelligence partners to the United States. Jordan is also one of only two Arab countries (the other being Egypt) that has signed a peace treaty with Israel, which has facilitated the possibility of achieving an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.
Read the full article from the Israel Policy Forum.
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