Former Jordanian FM says annexation would kill two-state solution
Former Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher has played a key role in Jordan’s relations with Israel and the US.
By SETH J. FRANTZMANJordanian official Marwan Muasher (L) welcomes Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (C) and Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie on their arrival in Amman 29, 2004.(photo credit: REUTERS/MAJED JABER AJ)
Former Jordanian foreign minister Marwan Muasher warned Israel this week about annexation, arguing that annexation of any size would kill the two-state solution.“We are less concerned about the timing of annexation,” he said. “We are more concerned with an Israeli government that seems to think they can do annexation and preserve any semblance of peace, which is totally false.”Muasher is an important Jordanian figure who is vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.In an appearance on Turkish state broadcaster TRT on Sunday, he said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had not mentioned annexation up until last year. Most of Israel’s security establishment thinks annexation is bad for Israel from a security and political standpoint, he said.Muasher has played a key role in Jordan’s relations with Israel and the US. He was the kingdom’s first envoy to Israel after the 1994 peace agreement and was ambassador to the US in the key years 1997 to 2002. He then became foreign minister and deputy prime minister.In recent statements and discussions, Muasher has been clear in articulating the downsides of annexation. “It will make things impossible for a two-state solution,” he said.Annexation also is detrimental to stability in the region, Muasher said, adding: “I want to say that if a two-state solution becomes impossible… then the Palestinians will shift the paradigm and start to demand equal rights in the state they are living in.”His statement notes that Palestinians calling for equal rights inside areas under Israel control are bolstered by their being the majority west of the Jordan. He even argued that Palestinians will soon be an even greater majority of some 60%, apparently including the population of Gaza as areas under Israel control. If Israel says no to a state and no to equal rights, it will mean apartheid, he said.“There is not just a Palestinian plan, but an Arab plan presented in 2002 called the Arab Peace initiative of 2002,” Muasher said, when 22 Arab states “offered [to make] peace and security with Israel. That obviously has been rejected by Israel.”He warned that the time for a two-state solution is closing and that a one-state reality is emerging. What kind of one-state reality do we want, he asked, musing on whether it would be a democracy or apartheid.Asked why Israel has dismissed the concerns of the international community, Muasher said Israel does not care as long as the US stands behind it.“If Mr. Trump is not reelected, then we might see a different view from the US,” he said. Israel feels it can have the cake and eat it too, he added.Annexation is the last nail in the coffin of the two-state solution, Muasher said.The Jordanian diplomat has been an outspoken critic of the White House pushing its “Deal of the Century.” He has warned that annexation could be an existential threat to Jordan, Al-Monitor reported on June 2.There are worries for Jordan-US relations and the peace agreement between Jordan and Israel, he said. Iranian media has suggested Jordan become closer to Iran and Turkey, which both work together in the region against Israel. Jordan is usually a key ally of the Gulf monarchies.Muasher has argued for a tougher diplomatic response to the annexation plan. There is a growing feeling among some of those involved in the Jordanian peace process of the 1990s that they are haunted by it, and Muasher believes the current plan by the White House is a “farce,” he told CNN. As recently as March 2018, Jordan was trying to salvage things, but today the situation is less clear.Israel appears, however, to have walked back from annexation of the Jordan valley. TRT asked Muasher if Jordan could take credit for Israel’s stepping back from that move. He was noncommittal on that issue, asserting that the danger of a one-state solution is the real concern.
