Jordan stands firm against Trump deal despite risks to ties
There are growing concerns that Jordan’s defiance toward the US peace plan for the Middle East could affect its strategic ties with the United States.
Now that Jordan has made its position clear on President Donald Trump’s plan for peace in the Middle East, will Jordan pay a price for its stand?
Since the unveiling of the plan, without explicitly commenting on it, King Abdullah has continued to reiterate his long-standing position on the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and achieving peace between Arab states and Israel. That position, which is based on the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002 and UN resolutions, calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital as well as a just resolution of the Palestine refugee issue.
Jordan has been active in promoting a common stance in the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Conference in meetings this month. Both have rejected the plan. Amman has also taken the lead in opposing Trump’s 2017 unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s united capital as well as the US administration’s attempt to defund UNRWA, the UN agency responsible for the welfare of Palestinian refugees.
The last time Trump’s son-in-law and special adviser Jared Kushner was in Amman was last August to meet the Jordanian king. Sources told Al-Monitor that the king rebuffed Kushner’s approach and repeated Jordan’s policy of backing the classical two-state solution as the only way forward.
