When Peace Treaties are Leveraged as Extortion - by Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen

The problem with Israel's "cold peace" with its neighbors isn't the lack of symmetry in the treaties, but rather that Jordan and Egypt are using the agreements to deter Israel from acting in its own best interest.

Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen..
Israel Hayom..
20 May '20..
Link: https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/extortion-using-the-peace-treaty/

In Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi's swearing-in speeches, they both declared their loyalty to the path of peace.

"I am committed to doing everything possible to promote diplomatic solutions and making peace," Gantz stated, while Ashkenazi said, "President Trump's peace plan is a historic opportunity … it will be promoted, responsibly and in coordination with the US, while keeping peace agreements in place."

If it weren't for the unusual political context, in light of the dispute over Israel applying sovereignty to Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley, the discussion about peace agreements would be nothing more than a standard message. But given warnings from King Abdullah of Jordan and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas against Israel's planned moves, and given the internal debate in Israel about the issue, their words take on a special meaning, a king of commitment to making Israeli steps toward sovereignty conditional upon regional consent.

No one disagrees that peace is worthy goal. The picture becomes more complicated when we look at the ways in which the peace between Israel and its neighbors has been implemented. A dynamic has developed in which their behavior toward Israel is often reminiscent of demanding protection money to be left alone. The Hashemite Kingdom plays an important and welcome role in keeping the peace along the Israeli-Jordanian border, but when experts on Israeli-Jordanian relations recommend that because of that, Israel refrain from taking action on behalf of its own interests in the Jordan Valley, and warn about the risk of losing the peace deal, we are getting close to extortion.

Israel and the issue of preserving the peace with Jordan - by Caroline Glick

Jordan’s actions over the past several weeks reinforce what has been clear for some time. In its rush to protect Abdullah and the peace, Israel has forgotten to deter Abdullah to preserve the peace. The time has come for Israel to correct its behavior. (Including requiring Jordan to  extradite the terrorist Ahlam Tamimi - YH)

Caroline Glick..
Carolineglick.com..
06 December '19..
Link: http://carolineglick.com/preserving-the-peace-with-jordan/

Tuesday Israel’s Channel 13 reported that President Donald Trump’s Deputy National Security Advisor Victoria Coates held a meeting at the White House last week with the ambassadors of Oman, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco. She reportedly asked the emissaries to check whether their governments are willing to consider signing non-aggression pacts with Israel.

The story, which the White House did not deny indicates the Trump administration has embraced an Israeli initiative, raised publicly last month by Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz. The idea is that through the non-aggression pacts, which are less than peace treaties, Israel and its Arab neighbors will be able to sidestep the issue of formal relations, replete with embassy opening ceremonies, and simply engage in open relations, for the benefit of all sides.

This has been the central goal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s diplomatic strategy. For decades, foreign policy practitioners and activitists in the U.S., Europe and the Israeli left have insisted that peace between Israel and the larger Arab world is impossible so long as Israel has not concluded a peace treaty with the PLO. This view gives the PLO the power to dictate if, when and under what conditions Arab nations will be “allowed” to have normal relations with the Jewish state.

Netanyahu’s goal has long been to rescind the PLO’s veto. By working behind the scenes to build constructive, stable ties with the states of the region predicated on mutual interests, Netanyahu has made great strides in achieving this goal. The very fact that Coates reportedly held the meeting with the Arab ambassadors in the White House is testament to the success of his efforts.

The dimensions of Netanyahu’s achievement are clear when you compare Israel’s constructive, mutually beneficial ties with states with which it lacks formal peace treaties to Israel’s ties with Jordan.

In recent remarks before a Knesset meeting marking the 25th anniversary of the signing of Israel’s peace treaty with Jordan, Netanyahu explained that the basis of Israel’s peaceful relations with Egypt and Jordan is not emotional. The Egyptians and Jordanians haven’t embraced Israel as a neighbor and friend. Rather, Israel’s peace treaties are the products of its deterrent power.

In his words, “As long as we are stronger – they are with us. If we become weaker, then the peace agreements will hang by a thread.”

That means that practically speaking there is little substantive difference between Israel’s ties with say, the UAE, and Israel’s ties with Egypt. So long as both perceive Israel as strong and helpful, and impossible to destroy, they will have good relations with it. If Israel becomes a strategic basket case on the other hand, then those relations will rapidly deteriorate.

In Egypt’s case, the combination of Israeli strength and shared interests in combatting Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood improved relations to an unprecedented degree. Acting on these shared interests and his recognition of Israeli power, Egyptian President Abdel el-Fattah a-Sisi played a significant role in cultivating ties between the Sunni Gulf states and Israel.

Jordan is a different story. While Israel’s relations with Egypt have never been better, its relations with Jordan have never been worse. Indeed, Israel’s informal ties with Saudi Arabia today are arguably better than its formal ties with Jordan. So what is going on? Is Israel doing something wrong? What does it get out of its ties with Jordan to begin with?

The most important advantage Israel gains from its ties with Jordan is a long peaceful eastern frontier. But that peaceful border, which is a function of Israel’s control of the Jordan Valley on the one hand and to Jordan’s actions to secure its border with Israel on the other, predates the peace treaty by more than 20 years. Moreover, given the downward trajectory of bilateral ties, it’s hard to know how long Jordan will remain committed to securing the border. From week to week, Jordan’s growing hostility towards Israel become more difficult to countenance or explain away.

Consider events of the past three weeks.

Kingdom of Jordan adds insole to injury - by Michael Freund

So both in terms of the pocketbook and the pipes, Jordan is reliant on American and Israeli largesse to keep its autocratic rulers afloat. Now more than ever would be a good time to employ these tools to pressure the Jordanian regime to start acting more like a friend, and less like a foe. Otherwise, there is little reason to continue pouring liquids and liquidity into a country that tramples on its commitments, both literally and figuratively.

Michael Freund..
Pundicity/JPost..
01 January '19..
Link: http://www.michaelfreund.org/22191/jordan-israel-insult

When Jordanian Minister of State for Media Affairs Jumana Ghunaimat was photographed several days ago cheerfully stepping on an image of the Israeli flag at a trade union complex in Amman, she sent a clear and unmistakable message of hostility and contempt for the Jewish state.

In doing so, Ghunaimat was adding insole to injury, providing a stark glimpse of the rising tide of hatred and invective that has been swelling across the border in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Indeed, for far too long, the unelected Jordanian monarchy has been treated with kid gloves by Israel and much of the international community, which is fearful of what might replace it were the regime to collapse. But in light of Jordan's increasing bellicosity, it is time to take a much tougher line with our neighbor to the east and demand an end to the enmity.

No less telling than Ghunaimat's contemptible act of disrespect was the mealymouthed statement issued by Jordan's Foreign Ministry after Israel submitted a formal protest regarding the incident.

Rather than offering an apology, the ministry spokesman issued a laconic statement merely saying that "Jordan respects the peace agreement with Israel."

It is unclear whether he did so with a straight face. After all, if Jordanian government officials do not respect Israel or its national symbols, then to what extent can they be said to truly respect the peace agreement itself?

Great question. Why is Israel silent?

...Just maybe Israel is the party that should be making announcements that it is Jordan that is violating the letter and surely the spirit of that treaty according to its text? In fact, why is Israel silent?

Yisrael Medad..
My Right Word/JPost..
31 October '14..





We read now

Jordan: Peace treaty with Israel under threat should Al-Aqsa violation continue

Jordan's government spokesman Mohammed Mumuni said that the peace accord with Israel, signed 20 years ago this week, was under threat should Israel continue its violations of the Al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount, Arab-language Sky News reported. Mumuni slammed Israel for saying it was working to preserve the status-quo in the flashpoint site while actually doing the opposite. He further noted that Jordan had formulated a plan to address Israel's actions in East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.

Jordanians have been ranting about this matter for months.

Back in February, Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Nsur threatened to pull the treaty if the Knesset were to continue advancing a bill to allow Jews to pray on the Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, where the Jordanian Waqf (Islamic trust) has forbidden such prayer.

It isn't even the first time this week Jordan has made such a threat, as Jordan's ambassador to Israel Walid Obeidat on Sunday threatened the agreement was in danger

and in April we read:

Israeli Ambassador to Jordan Daniel Nevo was summoned Monday by the Jordanian Foreign Ministry following violent clashes between Israeli police forces and Palestinian youths on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Sunday.

The Jordanian ministry conveyed the Hashemite Kingdom's protest of Israel's so-called violations and break-ins against the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, and told the ambassador that Israel's actions in the holy site pose a violation of the peace treaty between the countries, and "constitute and extreme insult to bilateral relations," the Jordanian news agency Petra reported.

Has anyone reviewed the treaty to ascertain what it actually contains regarding Al-Aqsa? Here:

About That Running Out of Time Chorus? Israel’s Getting Stronger, Not Weaker

...Rather than running out of time to make a peace that will save it, Israel actually has both the strength and the time to wait until a sea change in Palestinian and Arab political culture will make peace possible. While the doomsayers will never be silenced, the belief that time is not on its side is being given the lie by a growing economy and breakthroughs to the Arab world that can’t be negated by Jew hatred.

Jonathan S. Tobin..
Commentary Magazine..
03 September '14..

Doomsayers about the State of Israel never run out of material. Since the day it was born and even before that, skeptics about the Jewish state’s viability and long-term survival have been numerous and loud. They have plenty of material. The many grave threats to its security as well as many profound domestic problems shouldn’t be minimized. But amid the continuous chorus of those predicting its demise and saying it is running out of time, there is abundant evidence bolstering the opposite conclusion. Today’s news of the conclusion of a $15 billion natural gas deal between Israel and Jordan is just one such story that undermines the dire narrative that many on the left take as a given.

It can be argued that there is nothing terribly new about close cooperation between Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom. Even long before the peace treaty between the two nations in 1994, Israel and Jordan closely cooperated on security issues. In fact, Israel leaped to Jordan’s defense in 1970 when its actions thwarted a Syrian invasion seeking to help a Palestinian uprising against King Hussein. Since then, the Jordanian government has remained tight with the Israelis as it sought to defend itself against radicals. Good relations with Amman are impacted by the widespread hatred for the Jewish state in a country where the majority are Palestinian Arabs rather than King Abdullah’s Bedouin kinsmen. But even though the monarchy must publicly keep its distance from Israel, in practice it remains closely allied to it. So it’s little surprise that with the conclusion of this gas deal, the Jewish state has become Jordan’s chief supplier.

This illustrates some important short-term trends as well as another larger truth about Israel’s future.