Jordan’s king arrives in US to tell Trump of Arab unity in push for Middle East peace
Arab leaders renew quest for solution to ‘problem of century’
NEW YORK // Jordan’s King Abdullah arrived in Washington yesterday as part of a new effort to show president Donald Trump that the Arab world is united in a push for peace in the Middle East.
He arrived as the second wave in a diplomatic tag team, a day after Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El Sisi was welcomed to the White House and ahead of an expected visit by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas this month. At last week’s Arab League summit in Jordan, Arab leaders revived a peace plan that would offer recognition of Israel in exchange for Palestinian statehood. At the same time, Mr Trump’s close relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, could help bring both sides to the table.
“There is an opening,” said Musa Shteiwi, head of the Centre for Strategic Studies at Jordan University. “We should be cautiously optimistic.”
White House officials have been keen to foster close relations with King Abdullah, describing him as the sort of moderate ally who can help counter ISIL’s extremist ideology. He met Mr Trump in February – the first Arab leader to do so since he became president – before a prayer breakfast in Washington.
Yesterday, he was due to meet Rex Tillerson, the US secretary of state, for a working lunch before spending today at the White House.
King Abdullah’s visit comes at a time when hope is growing that a regional solution can settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Although Mr Trump offered early support for Israel, backing settlement building, promising to relocate the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and expressing doubt about the two-state solution, he has since moderated his tone.
Not only has he played up his image as a dealmaker, but Mr Trump has also signalled that he is receptive to a regional peace initiative.
His international envoy, Jason Greenblatt, told leaders at the Arab League summit in the Dead Sea resort of Sweimeh that the US president was committed to finding peace. “He reaffirmed president Trump’s personal interest in achieving a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians and his belief that such a peace agreement is not only possible, but would reverberate positively throughout the region and the world,” said the US embassy in Amman.
During the summit last Wednesday, Arab leaders reaffirmed a 2002 peace initiative based around normalising relations with Israel if it returns to its pre-1967 borders, giving up land it captured for a future Palestinian state.
Until now, Israel has been unwilling to consider handing over so much territory.
King Abdullah, Mr El Sisi and Mr Abbas reportedly met at the summit to coordinate the message they would take to their White House meetings.
The Jordanian king is expected to deliver a message of Arab unity and point out that Mr Trump’s wider Middle East goals – such as containing Iranian influence and tackling ISIL – will be much harder to achieve without settling the question of Palestinian statehood.
It follows Mr El Sisi’s visit to the White House on Monday, his first since taking power in Egypt in 2013.
Mr El Sisi’s invitation was seen as evidence that Mr Trump is keen to set aside the human rights concerns of his predecessor, Barack Obama, in pursuit of America’s strategic goals.
The Egyptian president said Mr Trump could count on his country as an ally in the fight against terrorism, but also described his confidence in the ability of the US president to bring his deal-making prowess to the Middle East peace process.
“You’ll find me supporting you very strongly and very earnestly in finding a solution to the problem of the century,” he said. “And I’m quite confident that you will be able to bring a solution to this issue.”
Many of the old hurdles to resolving the Israeli- Palestinian conflict remain, however, despite the fresh push.
Last week, the Israeli cabinet approved the first West Bank settlement in two decades. The move brought immediate condemnation from the United Nations, but a White House official pointed out it was part of a promise made before Mr Trump had asked Mr Netanyahu to hold back on settlement building.
The Israeli cabinet also agreed to new rules curbing construction in Palestinian territory “when possible” to areas already developed or next to existing settlements.