Middle East Monitor / March 2, 2020
The peace treaty between Jordan and Israel is “definitely at risk” according to Omar Al-Razzaz. The Jordanian prime minister made this bleak assessment during an interview with CNN during which he warned that the treaty, signed in 1994, was at peril because of Israel’s “unilateral measures” and the Israeli government’s “violation of the sanctity of Muslim and Christian endowments in Jerusalem”.
Al-Razzaz explained that diplomatic relations between the two countries was at the “lowest level” since the singing of the peace treaty. He also suggested that the treaty with Israel was signed with the understanding that there will be a “comprehensive solution” at a regional level that respected Palestinian rights.
Asked if he believed that there will be a price to pay for not supporting the deal, Al-Razzaz said that “Jordan relation with the US is deep historic and strategic.” Nevertheless, he admitted that none of the elements of President Donald Trump’s peace plan was discussed with the Hashemite Kingdom prior to its announcement.
Trump’s controversial “peace plan”, which critics say grants Israel every single wish while denying Palestinians their legally enshrined and internationally recognised rights, has raised alarm in Amman. Jordan’s King Abdullah II has reiterated his support for the Palestinian efforts to achieve their “just and legitimate rights” and to establish their independent state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has brushed aside Jordan’s complaints and appeared to taunt the country by announcing that his government has already begun the annexation of the occupied West Bank.
