Israel Matzav

Abdullah's game

The rump king of Jordan has a new game. Now, he's pouting over the lack of 'negotiations' for a second 'Palestinian state' (the first being Jordan - I'm not sure how we could classify Gaza) by refusing to grant an audience to Prime Minister Netanyahu.

On Thursday, a few days after Arad's trip to Jordan, Netanyahu traveled to Sharm el-Sheikh to meet with President Mubarak. The Arab diplomat says the Egyptians were also disappointed by the talk with Netanyahu. Upon his return from Sharm el-Sheikh, Netanyahu phoned King Abdullah, to brief him about his discussion with Mubarak, and to request personally a meeting with the monarch. King Abdullah reportedly told Netanyahu that serious talks should be started as soon as possible and deal with core issues, to implement the two-state solution.

The Prime Minister's Office stated on Sunday that "Netanyahu had a discussion with the King of Jordan on Thursday and agreed to meet with him soon."

The Prime Minister's Bureau said on Sunday: "Netanyahu spoke with the king of Jordan on Thursday and agreed with him to meet soon. We will announce the date of the meeting with the king in the coming days."

What's going on here? We've all assumed that Abdullah doesn't really want a 'Palestinian state' because the 'Palestinians' on the west bank of the Jordan River could hook up with the 'Palestinians' on the east bank of the Jordan River (his side), throw him out, and create the reichlet of 'Palestine' on the original area of the Palestine Mandate. If that's the case, Abdullah should be happy that Netanyahu has reached a stalemate with the 'Palestinians' where nothing is moving ahead for the foreseeable future. So why isn't he happy and why is he snubbing Netanyahu?

There are two explanations. The obvious explanation is that Abdullah doesn't want to be seen as betraying his fellow Arabs, especially the 'Palestinians' whom he ostensibly fears. But why then would Mubarak - who did meet with Netanyahu - not fear being accused of betraying the other Arabs? One could argue that unlike Mubarak, Abdullah has 'Palestinians' in his midst and therefore needs to worry more. But for the most part, he seems to have them under his control.

I have a less obvious explanation. I can't prove it, but you will see it fits. Abdullah is getting greedy. There's one circumstance in which Abdullah would be perfectly willing to have a 'Palestinian state' on the west bank of the Jordan River: If he could expel his own 'Palestinians' to it. That's why Abdullah started revoking the 'Palestinians' Jordanian citizenship. And that's what he hopes to get by cozying up to Iran: an Iranian attack on Israel that would leave Israel desolate and eventually allow Abdullah to move all his 'Palestinians' there.

Is that a fantasy? Of course it is. If - God forbid - Israel were nuked, it is highly likely that the radiation cloud would hit Jordan as well. But that won't stop Jordan's rump king from pursuing his wet dream. After all, his grandfather lost, and Britain still compensated him by giving him what is now known as 'Jordan.' So why should Abdullah be any less well off?

As to Netanyahu, he should stop kissing up to the illegitimate 'king' and start having a little pride in himself and his people.

What could go wrong?

Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Jordanian King Abdullah, Palestine mandate, Palestinian refugees

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:12 PM