U.S. and Jordan agree to disagree about final status for Mideast peace
President Obama called on the Arab states this week to immediately play a more constructive role in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. But when Jordan’s foreign minister visited Foggy Bottom Thursday, the space between how Washington and Arab states view the conflict was vividly on display. Both Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Jordanian Foreign Minister ...
President Obama called on the Arab states this week to immediately play a more constructive role in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. But when Jordan's foreign minister visited Foggy Bottom Thursday, the space between how Washington and Arab states view the conflict was vividly on display.
President Obama called on the Arab states this week to immediately play a more constructive role in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. But when Jordan’s foreign minister visited Foggy Bottom Thursday, the space between how Washington and Arab states view the conflict was vividly on display.
Both Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judah agreed that the Israelis and Palestinians should move to direct talks quickly. They didn’t agree on much else. For example, Judah flatly rejected Obama’s call for help in nudging the Palestinians to the table.
"Jordan and other Arab states are crucial to this effort, to foster conditions for further progress," Clinton said during a mini press conference at the State Department.
"I think once direct negotiations are resumed, you’ll see an engagement by the overall Arab context, and the tangible support that you refer to. But let’s not put the cart before the horse," Judah responded.
That wasn’t the only gap between the two foreign ministers.
For example, Clinton foresaw a two-state solution that "reconciles the Palestinian goal of an independent, viable and contiguous state based on the 1967 lines — with agreed swaps — and the Israeli goal of a Jewish state with secure and recognized borders that reflect subsequent developments and meet Israeli security requirements"
In Judah’s vision, the Palestinian state "emerges on the 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital."
Judah also backstopped the Palestinian position on moving to direct talks, emphasizing that face-to-face negotiations must address "all final-status issues — including borders, security, Jerusalem, and refugees," and must be "time- bound, benchmarked, and conducted in good faith."
Clinton agreed that "we believe that all the issues that need to be resolved between the parties must be discussed in direct negotiations." But she didn’t touch on the issues of Jerusalem or refugees specifically, two sensitive topics Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said are not on the table.
Judah reaffirmed his commitment to the Arab Peace Initiative, which also contains items that are nonstarters for Israel, such as a strict commitment to the 1967 borders and Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state.
"Let’s try to get the process going — not another open-ended process, not another timeless kind of engagement," he said. "We need to see benchmarks and we need to see traction on the ground."
Josh Rogin covers national security and foreign policy and writes the daily Web column The Cable. His column appears bi-weekly in the print edition of The Washington Post. He can be reached for comments or tips at josh.rogin@foreignpolicy.com.
Previously, Josh covered defense and foreign policy as a staff writer for Congressional Quarterly, writing extensively on Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, U.S.-Asia relations, defense budgeting and appropriations, and the defense lobbying and contracting industries. Prior to that, he covered military modernization, cyber warfare, space, and missile defense for Federal Computer Week Magazine. He has also served as Pentagon Staff Reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading daily newspaper, in its Washington, D.C., bureau, where he reported on U.S.-Japan relations, Chinese military modernization, the North Korean nuclear crisis, and more.
A graduate of George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, Josh lived in Yokohama, Japan, and studied at Tokyo's Sophia University. He speaks conversational Japanese and has reported from the region. He has also worked at the House International Relations Committee, the Embassy of Japan, and the Brookings Institution.
Josh's reporting has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, C-Span, CBS, ABC, NPR, WTOP, and several other outlets. He was a 2008-2009 National Press Foundation's Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellow, 2009 military reporting fellow with the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism and the 2011 recipient of the InterAction Award for Excellence in International Reporting. He hails from Philadelphia and lives in Washington, D.C. Twitter: @joshrogin
More from Foreign Policy
Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?
The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.
Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World
It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.
It’s a New Great Game. Again.
Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.
Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing
The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.
Sign up for Morning Brief
Foreign Policy’s flagship daily newsletter with what’s coming up around the world today. Delivered weekdays.
By submitting your email, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to receive email correspondence from us. You may opt out at any time.
