Any Pal-Arab state in the West Bank would threaten Jordan even more than Israel

Submitted by G Marcus, Mar 15, 2017 at 08:32

Dear Dr Pipes,

Thanks for bringing up the question of Jordanian cooperation as a key requirement for the above plan.

For the sake of the only real end-of-conflict solution, Jordan's Hashemite regime needs to be made to understand that it faces a Hobson's Choice: Either accept the proposed federation with parts of the West Bank, or sooner or later be absorbed by the emerging Pal-Arab state.

The reason: Any Pal-Arab state in the West Bank -- whether taken over by Hamas or still under Fatah rule -- would inevitably strive to achieve control of the East Bank (by way of mass insurrection, military coup, etc), thereby posing a perpetual existential threat to the ruling Hashemite regime.

By preempting control of the Arab inhabitants of the West Bank and working with local tribal leaders instead, Jordan would be eliminating imminent pan-Arabist (Fatah) or pan-Islamist (Hamas) irredentist threats from across the Jordan Valley.

And if the Jordanian regime needs some "nudging" to be saved from itself, so be it!

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