President Donald Trump’s proposal to relocate as many as 2 million Palestinians in Gaza to neighboring countries, including Egypt and Jordan, has arguably put Jordan into a very difficult position. Jordanian King Abdullah II has been invited to the White House to meet Trump on Feb. 11, where he will undoubtedly get an earful as to why Jordan should accept more Palestinian refugees. Abdullah expressed appreciation for Saudi Arabia’s “firm and supportive” position on the Palestinian issue during a phone call with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, according to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA), reported Al Arabiya News. During the call, the two leaders also discussed regional developments and exchanged views on efforts to promote security and stability in the region, SPA said.
The Jordanians are reported to be in an uproar over the prospect of several million Palestinians being driven east across the Jordan River. “In Jordan, we have numerous ways to confront this decision through political and popular actions, such as suspending the peace treaty and expelling U.S. military bases from Jordan,” former Deputy Prime Minister Mamdouh al-Abadi told Middle East Eye.
Jordan is heavily dependent on U.S. foreign aid, but a Jordanian official, who requested anonymity, told MEE that “American aid is important and necessary for the budget, constituting 10% of the state’s budget, but if it is linked to the issue of relocation, we will not hesitate to forgo it.”
Senator Omar al-Ayasrah told MEE, “Now, the King will draw bright red lines during his upcoming visit to the White House, including rejecting any relocation, as it constitutes political suicide for the Jordanian state.”
Jordanian sources told Middle East Eye reporters Peter Oborne and Richard Sanders in Amman that Jordan is ready to go to war, if need be, if Israel attempts to forcibly expel Palestinians into its territory. Well-placed sources in Amman and Jerusalem told MEE that the last thing Jordan wants is war and that it is eager for a peaceful solution. But they are adamant that the Jordanians will close the border if refugees begin to cross into the country. If the Israelis seek to re-open it, that would be “a casus belli,” one source said.
The Jordanians are under no illusion they could win a war with Israel, but believe they would have no choice but to fight. One source told MEE that Trump’s proposal was an “existential issue” both for Jordan and the Hashemite dynasty, pointing out that the country is the third-poorest in terms of water in the world (for which the LaRouche Oasis Plan is the solution). Its 12 million people live largely in a strip of land along the Israeli border, close to the Jordan River. It would simply be unable to accommodate a significant inflow of refugees, he said.
