Jordan’s Prime Minister blames Israeli extremists for collapse of peace process
Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Al Khasawneh has blamed “a handful” of Israeli politicians for the breakdown of a twostate solution.
Speaking at an event in London about the Israel-Gaza war, Dr Al Khasawneh said Israel was overly influenced by a small number of extremist politicians, who were leading the country into “perpetual” war.
“It’s been politically beholden to the small domestic political calculations of a few in Israel, who propagate and promulgate that the answer is in a security solution,” he said.
Asked how both sides of the Arab-Israeli conflict could be brought to the table to achieve a lasting peace process, Dr Al Khasawneh rejected claims that both sides share equal blame for a lack of progress.
“I don’t know whether it is both sides. I caution that there is one side – and it’s not the entirety of that one side – that’s not embracing the two-state solution,” he said.
The Arab world and Islamic countries have shown a clear willingness to embrace a twostate solution since the Saudi-led Arab Peace Initiative in 2001, he added.
His comments came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu openly defied US President Joe Biden’s calls to revive the peace process after the war.
“A handful of Israeli politicians have been left to go in a different direction. One of perpetual conflict, of wanting to have their cake and eat it at the same time,” Dr Al Khasawneh said.
He cautioned that Israeli leaders’ rejection of a two-state solution was “detrimental” to Israel’s security in the long term.
Jordan’s peace treaty with Israel has come under strain during the war, with politicians repeatedly warning against the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.
A group of students from the London School of Economics gathered outside the event to
protest against Jordan’s ties with Israel, calling for the Israeli embassy in Amman to be closed.
Arab leaders will be meeting the EU’s foreign affairs council in Brussels this week to discuss the war and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Dr Al Khasawneh said an immediate ceasefire was needed to end the “carnage” in Gaza.
“The argument that this is a translation of self-defence is cowardice,” he said.
Israel’s operation risks radicalising future generations, and has already directly affected Jordan’s economy and those of other neighbouring countries, he warned.
The international community’s “rules-based order” is also at risk, as the Palestinian death toll continues to rise with seeming impunity for Israel.
“The international powers are under obligation – in the context of preserving the international rules-based system – to tell the Israeli government that this needs to stop, and should have stopped yesterday, and move away from the vicious cycle of violence,” he said.
Arab states refuse to “sign up” to a postwar plan without assurances of a “serious” and “timelined” peace process, involving the creation of two states with pre-1967 borders and an end to Israeli occupation.
“Nobody will be willing to jump on an agreement that only addresses the security concerns of the Israelis,” he said.
“We have to be committed and serious in reaching that objective.”