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News > Jordan

Jordan Warns Israel of 'Massive Conflict' Over Annexation

  •  Jordanian king warned that if Israel annexes the West Bank, it would lead to a “massive conflict” with Jordan.

    Jordanian king warned that if Israel annexes the West Bank, it would lead to a “massive conflict” with Jordan. | Photo: AFP

Published 16 May 2020
Opinion

“If Israel really annexes the West Bank in July, it would lead to a massive conflict with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,” King Abdullah II said in an interview published by Der Spiegel.

Jordan's King Abdullah II warned Friday that if Israel annexes the West Bank, it would lead to a “massive conflict” with Jordan,  while European Union (UE) foreign ministers agreed to step up diplomatic efforts to try to head off such a move.

RELATED:
On the 72nd Nakba Palestine Faces Its Biggest Threat

“If Israel really annexes the West Bank in July, it would lead to a massive conflict with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,” King Abdullah II said in an interview published by Der Spiegel.

“Leaders who advocate a one-state solution do not understand what that would mean,” he stated, adding that there would be more chaos and extremism in the region.

According to Khaled Elgindy, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said Israel's annexation plans could pose a threat to the Jordanian monarchy.

"For the monarchy in Jordan, an end to the two-state solution - which this plan and annexation is really aimed at achieving - an end of any prospect of a Palestinian state poses not just a strategic threat, but quite possibly even an existential threat to the monarchy in Jordan," he told Al Jazeera.

Israel has promised to annex illegal Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley on July 1, which could spell the end of the long-stalled peace process by making it virtually impossible to establish a viable Palestinian state. 

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has moved a step closer by reaching an agreement with his rival-turned-partner, Benny Gantz to form a government after more than a year of political deadlock while being backed by U.S. in the so-called "Deal of the Century" that gives the green light to the illegal annexations. 

Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers, in a video conference, reaffirmed their support for a two-state solution and opposition to any annexation. The ministers, whose countries are deeply divided in their approach to Israel, agreed to ramp up diplomatic efforts in the coming days with Israel, the Palestinians, the U.S., and Arab countries.

"We reaffirm our position in support of a negotiated, two-state solution. For this to be possible, unilateral action from either side should be avoided, and, for sure, international law should be upheld," EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell said after chairing the meeting.

"We must work to discourage any possible initiative toward annexation," Borrell told reporters in Brussels. "International law has to be upheld. Here, and there, and everywhere."

The EU will use "all our diplomatic capacities in order to prevent any kind of unilateral action," he added.

The bloc has long been committed to a two-state solution based on the 1967 lines, with the possibility of mutually agreed land-swaps. 

Israel seized East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 war. The Palestinians want all three to form their future state.

"From our point of view, changes to borders must, if at all, be the result of negotiations and happen in agreement between both sides," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said.

On Friday, Palestinians marked the Nakba's 72nd anniversary, an event not only historical but an ongoing process of struggle and resistance commemorating the displacement of the Palestinians when they were stripped of their native lands, leading to the founding of the Israeli state in the aftermath of the Second World War.

Now, the process of the illegal annexation of the West Bank and Jordan Valley is uncertain, while Palestinian officials have threatened to abolish bilateral agreements with Israel if it goes ahead with the annexation plans, which will undermine the two-state solution.

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