Israeli-Jordanian relations

On May 14, 1948, one day before the end of the British mandate to Palestine , David Ben-Gurion declared the creation of an independent Jewish state in Palestine and became the first Prime Minister of that country ^[2] . The very next day, the League of Arab States declared war on Israel and immediately five Arab states ( Syria , Egypt , Lebanon , Iraq and Transjordan ) attacked a new country, thereby starting the First Arab-Israeli War ^[2] . By the end of hostilities, the West Bank and East Jerusalem remained under the control of Transjordan. King Abdullah Ibn Hussein of Transjordan changed the name of the country to Jordan, and in 1950 announced that the West Bank was part of the country he ruled. In June 1967, Jordan suffered a crushing defeat in the Six-Day War with Israel: the West Bank and East Jerusalem ceased to be Jordanian territory ^[3] .

Jordan did not accept the loss of the West Bank. In 1973, Jordan supported other Arab countries in the Doomsday War against Israel, but limited itself to political statements and sending expeditionary forces to Syria. In the 1980s, King Hussein ibn Talal of Jordan pursued a policy of cooperation with the forces of the Palestine Liberation Organization . He took measures aimed at preserving the traditional ties of Jordan with the West Bank: banking cooperation, paying salaries to Palestinian officials in this territory, subsidizing Palestinian firms, and providing government guarantees to private Jordanian investors in the economy of the West Bank. In 1977, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat initiated negotiations with Israel, which in 1979 led to the conclusion of an Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty . Hussein ibn Talal did not want to follow the example of Anwar Sadat without prior approval from the rest of the Arab world . The King of Jordan believed that in the absence of broad support for the Arab world, his political negotiations with Israel could bring unpredictable consequences for the country. In September 1984, Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres proposed that the King of Jordan hold direct talks without PLO participation. Hussein ibn Talal refused to direct negotiations, but expressed willingness to contact with the Israeli side at the international peace conference in October 1985 at the UN ^[4] .

In 1986 and 1987, secret contacts between the governments of Israel and Jordan increased. The countries reached agreements on cooperation in such matters as: the participation of moderate Palestinian forces in the peace process, the opening of branches of the Jordanian Bank Cairo - Amman in the West Bank, the participation of Jordan in the financial, agricultural, educational and medical affairs of this territory. In November 1987, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and the King of Jordan, Hussein, signed a memorandum of understanding on the peace plan in London . However, upon returning to Israel, Shimon Peres was unable to obtain support for the implementation of the provisions of this memorandum in the Israeli government ^[5] . In 1991, at the Madrid Conference, bilateral negotiations took place, culminating in the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty signed in 1994. With the ratification of the peace treaty, full diplomatic relations were established between the countries. In April 2000, King Abdullah II of Jordan Ibn Hussein became the first Jordanian head of state to visit Israel on an official visit ^[6] .

On June 23, 2017, a Jordanian worker brought furniture to an apartment in which the Israeli embassy security guard lived in Amman. A Jordanian worker hit an Israeli security guard with a screwdriver, after which an Israeli opened fire and killed a Jordanian citizen. At the same time, one of the bullets hit the owner of the apartment who was present there, who died later. Within 24 hours of the incident, all Israeli embassy staff were evacuated and taken home. Jordanian media claim that the tragedy was preceded by a quarrel between the men, while the Israeli guard himself said that the Jordanian attacked him after learning that the Israelite had no other conflict between them. From June 2017 until September 2018, the Israeli embassy in Amman remained empty and did not function.

In mid-June 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid an official visit to Amman , during which he met with King Abdullah II . The meeting discussed issues of resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, economic cooperation between Jordan and Israel, regional problems, the construction of a canal between the Red and Dead Sea, as well as the possibility of lifting restrictions on trade between the Palestinian Authority and the Hashemite Kingdom. Premiere Netanyahu was accompanied at the meeting by Yossi Cohen , head of intelligence at Mossad , and the Jordanian monarch was accompanied by the king’s foreign minister, director of intelligence and economic advisers. ^{[7] [8]}

Amir Weisbrod, the new Israeli ambassador to Jordan, presented his credentials to King Abdullah II in September 2018, 4 months after the diplomat arrived in the Hashemite kingdom. Thus ended the scandal between the two countries, when the previous Ambassador of the Jewish state Einat Schline was forced to return home with all members of the diplomatic mission in June 2017. ^[9] A month later, the new ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom Hasan al-Madjali arrived in Israel and presented copies of credentials to the head of the ceremonial department of the Israeli Foreign Ministry; after the ceremony will be appointed presentation of diplomas to the President of Israel. ^[ten]

On October 8, 2018, King Abdullah II of Jordan met with the leader of the Israeli opposition, Avoda Party Chairman Avi Gabay . ^[11] The ways of a peaceful Palestinian-Israeli settlement and regional issues were discussed. ^[12]

In the same month, it became known that Abdullah II decided to partially revoke the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty of 1994 and return to the kingdom’s use two plots of land - the so-called "peace island" in the Naharaim region, and Arava desert . According to the agreement, Israel rented these two islands from Jordan for 25 years, and then could extend the lease. ^[13]

Jordan in Israel

• Rasan Majali became the new ambassador of the Hashemite kingdom in Israel from October 2018. Previously, he headed the embassy of Jordan in Spain. ^[14]

Of Israel in Jordan

• Oded Eran - in office from 1997 to 2000.
• Yaakov Hadas-Handelsman - in office from 2003 to 2006.
• Daniel Nevo - in office from August 2009 to September 2015.
• Einat Shlein - became the first ever Israeli ambassador to an Arab country. ^[15] She headed the embassy from September 7, 2015 ^[16] until July 25, 2017, when, after the security guard killed the embassy in a quarrel between two citizens of the kingdom, she had to urgently leave the country along with the entire diplomatic mission staff. ^[17]
• Amir Weissbrod was appointed as the new Israeli ambassador to Jordan in March 2018 after the July 2017 incident. ^[18]

In July 1996, the first trade operations took place between Israel and Jordan. In 1996, Israel exported $ 9 million worth of goods to Jordan, and Jordan’s exports to Israel amounted to $ 5 million. In 1996, Israel exported goods to Jordan in the amount of about $ 20 million; Jordan’s exports to Israel amounted to $ 12.5 million. In the first half of 1998, the trade turnover between the countries amounted to more than $ 20 million, showing an increase of 60% over last year ^[19] .

In 1997, about 125,000 tourists from Israel visited Jordan. In 1996, about 50,000 tourists from Jordan visited Israel, and in 1997, 47,000 Jordanians visited the country ^[19] .

• Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty