Jordan
Intensifies Anti-Israel Rhetoric Despite Security Challenges
by Noah Beck
Special to IPT News
June 1, 2017
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 Jordan, a country
that has had a formal peace treaty with Israel since 1994, has seen an
uptick in anti-Israel hostility.
Last month, Jordan condemned the killing of a Jordanian-Palestinian
attacker who was filmed stabbing an Israeli policeman multiple times before
he was shot, calling it "a heinous crime." In September, Israeli
police killed a Jordanian tourist who attacked with a knife. Jordan described this act of self-defense as a
premeditated and "barbaric act of the army of the Israeli
occupation."
Israeli analysts disagree whether Jordan's rhetoric is a cause for
concern.
Since the second Palestinian Intifada broke out in 2000, Jordan's public
statements often contradict private behavior, said Elad Ben-Dror, a
Bar-Ilan University Middle Eastern Studies senior lecturer. Publicly,
"the Jordanian parliament and press are fierce in their denunciation
of Israel... Beneath the surface, however, there is a strong link and
security cooperation between the two countries, especially with regard to
the war on terrorism."
Jordanian demographics drive the public vitriol, said Tel Aviv
University Contemporary Middle Eastern History Chair Eyal Zisser.
Palestinians comprise half the Jordanian population, "and because the
population is conservative and very much Islamic, the regime lets the
public...express anti-Israeli sentiments as a way to vent and
reduce...pressure on the regime."
So "cheap shots" like condemning the shooting of a terrorist
in the act of trying to kill are "aimed at showing the Palestinians in
Jordan [that] the Hashemites have not abandoned them," said Oded Eran,
a senior research fellow at Israel's Institute for National Security
Studies. "The King expects the Israeli government" to ignore such
statements. And for the most part, Jerusalem does.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently took exception.
"It is outrageous to hear the Jordanian government's speaker support
the terror attack which occurred today in Jerusalem's Old City," a statement released by Netanyahu's office said.
"It's time Jordan stopped playing both sides of the game. Just like
Israel condemns terror attacks in Jordan, Jordan must condemn terror
attacks in Israel. Terror is terror."
Moreover, some anti-Israel hostility by Jordan goes beyond mere
statements.
In March, Jordan released Ahmed Daqamseh, a former soldier who murdered
seven Israeli schoolgirls as they visited his country. His tribe gave him a hero's welcome and he called for Israel's destruction
on Al-Jazeera TV. Many lawmakers and politicians had reportedly
lobbied to set him free, and doing so may have been a populist move.
Jordan also hosts "Al-Quds," the official TV station of Hamas,
the Gaza-based terror group committed to Israel's destruction.
Some experts think Israel should stop turning the other cheek.
"Israel is assisting Jordan economically, providing it with fresh
water and [helping] in many other areas. It is entitled and even obligated
to insist that Jordan moderate its criticism and certainly that it not
support anti-Israeli terrorism," Ben-Dror said.
Israel should "slowly alter the rules of the game" by
insisting that Jordan's monarch condemn Palestinian violence, said Bar-Ilan
political scientist Hillel Frisch. "Israel has to make him sweat a little
but not, of course, at the expense of his throne."
"I'm glad that Netanyahu rebuked him over the attempted murder of
the policeman," Frisch said. "I'd like to see more rebukes in the
future, especially regarding the Waqf guards' role in incitement on Har
Habayit." Under the terms of Israel's peace treaty with Jordan, the
Jordanian-run Waqf Islamic religious trust administers the Temple Mount,
but has been leading efforts to deny and erase any Jewish connection to the
site.
Last July, three members of the Islamic Waqf attacked a group of archeologists at the site. The harassment continued in January, when Islamic guards
tried to remove an Israeli tour guide for calling the area the "Temple
Mount," insisting that he use the Islamic term "Haram
al-Sharif."
While King Abdullah might have an unspoken understanding with his
"Arab Street" that requires regular condemnations of Israel, the
sustainability of such an arrangement remains a concern. The same Islamist
forces to which he panders could eventually hobble his policy objectives,
or worse.
Last October, a grassroots campaign was launched by Jordanian activists
to turn off the lights to protest Jordan's gas deal with Israel. The
"lights-out action came on the heels of a protest march [recently] in
downtown Amman that attracted an estimated 2,500 demonstrators, making it
one of the largest protests in Jordan in recent years," the Jerusalem
Post reported. The protests reportedly included chants against both the
gas deal and Jordan's peace with Israel.
Reflecting popular opposition, the lower house of Jordan's Parliament
overwhelmingly opposed the 2014 gas deal. The opposition includes leading
Jordanian trade unions, Islamists, and secularists.
By indulging public opinion with anti-Israel rhetoric, Abdullah risks
encouraging and popularizing the type of movement that could eventually
topple him. Jordanian Islamists recently murdered a prominent Christian
writer who faced legal charges for sharing a "blasphemous"
anti-ISIS cartoon that outraged Muslim groups. Honor killings are increasing in Jordan.
Last November, Jordan's highest religious authority slammed as
"false and insignificant" an Israeli bill to ban the Muslim call
to prayer via loudspeakers during sleeping hours throughout Israel. The
Israeli bill would apply to the sound systems of all houses of worship, not
only mosques, and countries like India and Egypt have enacted similar
limitations.
Anti-Israel hostility might be aggravated by Jordan's overall situation.
Economic woes and an influx of Syrian refugees are bringing increasing
instability, Israeli Ambassador to Jordan Einat Shlein warned in March.
Frisch is less concerned: "I remember from [over 50 years ago] how
the pundits predicted the Jordanian monarchy's imminent fall. My take is
that... [King Abdullah] has money (Saudi and Gulf) and lots of intelligence
and logistical support (Israel, US, British) and the more heterogeneous his
population, the more room for maneuver [he has] to play the role of
arbiter."
Although Jordan has economic challenges, the regime is stable, Ben-Dror
said. "Jordanians see what is happening in Syria and Iraq and
appreciate the stability the regime provides. I think that most Jordanians
want to preserve the status quo – the Hashemite regime. The combination of
outside support for the country and the domestic support of its citizens
guarantee its survival."
Mutual interests provide some insurance for Israel-Jordan relations,
Eran said. Jordan needs Israeli cooperation and expertise when it comes to
"security, water and...energy... [Jordan] also needs at least a
semblance of a peace process between Israel and the Palestinians to prevent
unrest" among Jordanian Palestinians.
Indeed, that synergy may explain why Israel's Foreign Ministry declined
to comment on Jordanian hostility towards Israel.
"Jordan protects Israel from the east," Zisser said.
"It's better to have the Jordanians as our neighbors than to have
ISIS, the Iranians, the Syrians, or the Iraqis. So security is above all,
and as long as the Jordanians keep the border quiet and cooperate with
Israel," the rest can be tolerated.
Still, if King Abdullah views Israel as key to his regime's success, and
he also needs support from the Jordanian "street" for his
regime's survival, then why – despite being the most powerful figure in
Jordan – has he done so little to align public opinion with his strategic
objectives? If King Abdullah can order bloody crackdowns on terrorists,
can't he promote more moderate thinking among the general population, by –
for example – pushing the press to include fair and balanced coverage of
Israel?
"The King is not as powerful as one thinks," Zisser said.
"There were many protests against corruption, unemployment etc., so...
[he] needs to maneuver carefully."
But Frisch disagreed: "Abdullah has been in the throne long enough
to influence and shape public opinion rather [than] pander to it. He might
be doing this deliberately to derail any peace process that might lead to a
Palestinian state, which he certainly does not want. He wants Israel, as
the strongest state on the block to contain Palestinian nationalism and
radicalism."
Noah Beck is the author of The Last
Israelis, an apocalyptic novel about Iranian nukes and other
geopolitical issues in the Middle East.
Related Topics: Ibrahim
Hooper | Noah Beck,
Israel-Jordan
relations, King
Abdullah, Benjamin
Netanyahu, Elad
Ben-Dror, Eyal
Zisser, Oded
Eran, Ahmed
Daqamseh, Hamas,
Al-Jazeera,
Hillel
Frisch, Temple
Mount, Islamic
Waqf, Einat
Shlein, Ibrahim
Hooper
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