Jordan’s MPs give final touches to recommendations on deals with Israel

Police stand guard as demonstrators carry flags and banners during a protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza, Amman on Nov. 10, 2023. (Reuters)

• The lower house last week tasked its legal committee with examining all Jordanian-Israeli agreements
• A parliamentary source said that the “general atmosphere” within the house was “hostile to the agreements with Israel”

AMMAN: Jordanian lawmakers are scheduled to refer their recommendations on deals the country has signed with Israel to the government this week, for the latter to take any required action.
The lower house last week tasked its legal committee with examining all Jordanian-Israeli agreements and making recommendations to the government.
The move was made amid a hardened Jordanian narrative on the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict which, since Oct. 7, has seen thousands of Jordanians taking to the streets in Amman and elsewhere, protesting at the Israeli bombardment of Gaza and calling on their government to cut diplomatic ties with Israel.
MP Fayez Basbous, a legal committee member, said on Saturday that the panel had already met legal experts and was wrapping up its notes on all the deals Jordan had signed with Israel, before the recommendations were sent to the government.
“It is under examination, and there is yet no conclusion reached,” Basbous told Arab News on Saturday.
A parliamentary source said that the “general atmosphere” within the house was “hostile to the agreements with Israel.”
The lawmakers “want these deals either canceled or suspended,” said the source, who requested anonymity.
In addition to the 1994 Wadi Araba Treaty, Jordan signed a $10 billion deal with Israel in 2016 for gas.
Jordan and Israel also signed a memorandum of understanding in November 2022 to advance a water-for-energy deal. Under the UAE-brokered agreement, Jordan is to build 600 megawatts of solar power capacity to export to Israel, which would provide water-scarce Jordan with 200 million cubic meters of desalinated water in return.
However, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Thursday that Jordan would not sign the deal, citing Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.