Jordan's King & Queen Jordan's Outreach to Hamas: The Politics of Distress -Pinhas Inbari
Israel's regional policies have thrown Jordan off balance.
The tahdiya (calm) agreement with Hamas caused great embarrassment to moderate Arab countries and exploded the policy of isolating Hamas. In addition, in its prisoner deal with Hizbullah, Israel agreed to hand over to Hizbullah the bodies of Jordanians. If Israel, for pragmatic reasons, finds it appropriate to engage with Hamas, why shouldn't Jordan do the same?
[T]he U.S. and its Western allies failed to protect their Georgian ally. Following the Russian invasion of Georgia, King Abdullah II flew to Moscow and indicated an interest in buying Russian weapons, with all of the implications such a move entails.
Hamas influence in Jordan and the West Bank is rising. Iran and Russia are moving to reshape the Middle East. At the same time, Jordan fears it cannot trust the political will of its traditional allies as Israel has diplomatically engaged Jordan's adversaries - Syria and Hamas.
Jordan's current policy can best be categorized as a "distress call" - one that should be heeded by Israel and the West before it is too late.
(Institute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
4 comments:
An interesting analysis and it makes sense. Israel can ill afford to lose moderate Arab nations, but then, they have only been of limited use in Israel's situation. Maybe they look at it as 6 of 1, half dozen of another. However, it is hard to see how Israel will make any lasting gains with Hamas or Hizbullah. Nothing is impossible, but peace in the mideast seems to come pretty close.
Your peace assessment is sound [impossible], but you may underestimate the importance of Jordan's in the terror war.
The 'back pocket' option of Jordan taking back the West Bank STILL pops up despite their public declarations. And business cooperation with Jordan continues.
Jordan has some chutzpah as well...don't forget they kicked Arafat and Company out of the country some years ago and maintain, what is in essence, a productive Palestinian State.
Their queen is a Palestinian Arab.
You make a good point. I probably downplayed the importance of Jordan here. They could still be a problem, and they have also been one of the few grudging acceptors, so it is not appropriate to do so.
The Jordanian royal couple rules successfully over a mainly Palestinian population. Perhaps a complex task, but one they do well.
Palestinian Arabs are exceedingly intelligent, productive and capable. Their success everywhere in the world EXCEPT Gaza and the West Bank is strking.
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