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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 April - 3 May 2000 Issue No. 479 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 April - 3 May 2000 Issue No. 479
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Special Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Little more than a photo-op
By Lola KeilaniKing Abdullah II, who sailed across the Gulf of Aqaba on his first visit to Israel since ascending the throne 14 months ago, stressed that the Palestinian issue is central to a regional peace settlement and that 'land-for-peace' should provide the guiding principle for the peace negotiations.
Although Abdullah had met Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak several times in the past, he had refrained from visiting Israel officially due to regional tensions and the deadlocked Palestinian peace talks.
According to the king, Jordan has a direct interest in a final-status agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians. "There are questions that affect us on a daily basis, like security and borders. The refugee issue and Jerusalem are close to our hearts, and the water problem has to be solved at the bilateral, trilateral and regional level," he said.
Jordan keeps a close eye on any progress in the negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel, because as many as half of the Hashemite Kingdom's 4.8 million citizens are refugees and displaced Palestinians from successive Arab-Israeli wars.
The final-status talks, dealing with the refugees' right of return and compensation, directly affect the kingdom, as do negotiations on water, borders, security and Jerusalem.
Jordanian officials stress that only a comprehensive peace which also includes Syria and Lebanon can cement its own peace deal, sealed with Israel in October 1994.
Abdullah spoke with Barak about the four main issues: the Syrian track, where Abdullah has been playing a behind-the-scene role to bring the two sides closer; the Palestinian track; the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon; and bilateral issues between the two countries.
Jordan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdel-Ilah Al-Khatib said King Abdullah stressed in his talks with Barak that the pullout needed to be comprehensive and complete without any breaches of Lebanese sovereignty, territorial integrity, maritime and air space.
The king also expressed his optimism about the Syrian track, telling Israeli television, "There is still a chance; the door is still open on both sides... We must be optimistic. We are on the verge of a new era in the region."
Accompanied by his wife Queen Rania, who is of Palestinian origin, the king spent four hours in the Red Sea resort of Eilat, which visit was shorter than planned. The only statements made by Abdullah during his visit came in the interview recorded by Israeli television.
While the king was meeting Barak, Jordanian and Israeli ministers met to discuss outstanding bilateral issues. These ranged from building an international airport at the Wadi Araba border crossing point, where the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty was signed by the late King Hussein and the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, to the thorny issue of Israel allowing Jordan a greater proportion of the West Bank's trade.
Commenting on the meetings, Israeli Minister of Trade and Industry Ran Cohen said that he had found his Jordanian counterparts unwilling to develop relations for as long as bilateral problems remained unresolved.
"As we understand it from the Jordanians, they were not satisfied with the basic conditions, including what's been going on with the water agreement between Israel and Jordan, or what's been going on with trade between Jordan and the Palestinians through Israel, or why Israelis have not arranged everything to widen Jordan's exports to the Palestinian Authority," Cohen outlined.
For their part, Jordanian officials stated that Israel has not been forthcoming in facilitating Jordan's trade with the Palestinian territories -- a market worth several billion dinars exclusively monopolised at present by Israel. The two sides have also not yet fully ratified an agreement on water which was incorporated into the 1994 peace treaty.
The Jordan News Agency (Petra) reported that the Jordanian delegation emphasised the importance of securing additional water sources, as called for by the treaty, while also insisting that the kingdom will proceed with the envisioned Wihda Dam project with Syria. The dam is expected to have a storage capacity of 225 million cubic metres of water and would help Jordan store additional water supplies from the River Yarmouk, which normally provides the kingdom with 135 million cubic metres annually.
Israel has said that it should be consulted about any alteration in the river's water flow, as the construction of the dam may jeopardize its own ability to draw on the Yarmouk.
For most Jordanian observers, the visit was a mere photo opportunity with no obvious, tangible outcome.
"Despite the compliments Abdullah paid to Barak, from reading between the lines, it is clear that the visit was not the one Israel had expected from Abdullah. It is a very brief visit, which did not include Jerusalem which Israel claims as its capital, or a joint communiqué. There was no joint press conference," said a political observer who preferred to remain anonymous. "All this reflects the lukewarm atmosphere of the in-camera talks," he added.
Two days after his visit to Israel, King Abdullah flew to the Palestinian-ruled town of Ramallah for talks with President Yasser Arafat. Abdullah's last-minute decision to visit the Palestinian-held West Bank was seen as a move to balance his trip to Israel.
The monarch travelled to the Gaza Strip last May, but as king he had yet to visit the West Bank, which was ruled by Jordan from 1948 until Israel seized it in the 1967 Middle East war.
Abdullah, accompanied by his wife Rania, was warmly welcomed in Ramallah by throngs of Palestinians on the streets.
