AMMAN —
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s statement on Sunday about an envisaged
joint Jordanian-Israeli industrial zone, dubbed the Jordan Gate project, was
received with mixed reviews by pundits interviewed by
Jordan News.اضافة اعلان
Some see it as
as an excellent opportunity to revive the economy and reduce the unemployment
rate, especially given the country’s current economic conditions, while others
disprove of the idea, seeing in it an opportunity for Israel to weaken Jordan’s
political position.
Political
analyst
Labeeb Qamhawi views “talking about joint strategic projects with
Israel (as) extremely dangerous”, as implementing them, “puts the situation in
the hands of the Israeli side”, so “there is no interest for Jordan to enter
into this scheme.”
“Why should we
cooperate with Jordan’s enemy, Israel,” he asked, stressing that this would “be
a victory for the Israeli side, especially since it is the stronger party
financially and militarily.”
“I believe that
creating more projects means more weakness,” he added.
According to
geopolitical expert Amer Al-Sabaileh, “this step is an effort to activate the
economy” that “will benefit both parties”.
“Since the exit
of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, Jordan has been trying to maximize its
relationship with the current Israeli government,” he added.
Sabaileh
believes that “diversifying the countries that Jordan intends to establish
projects with means that Jordan is trying to keep pace with developments,
especially in light of the difficult economic conditions the Kingdom is
witnessing.”
He noted that
“this step is a clear translation of an attempt to advance the relationship and
complement agreements such as the energy-for-water” letter of intent.
Sabaileh fails
to see such steps as weakening Jordan’s position: “At the end of the day, this
is a purely economic step, similar to projects and agreements concluded with
other countries in order to revive the national economy.”
“Jordan also
aims, through such a project, to activate its borders, and therefore this is
not weakening, but rather benefiting,” he added.
Political expert
Hassan Al-Momani told
Jordan News that “some articles in previous
treaties between Jordan and Israel talked about economic and security
cooperation”.
“I do not think
that there is anything new in this, especially since there is an intention to
advance economic cooperation, especially with the existence of a tripartite
agreement that brings together Jordan, Israel, and the UAE in the
energy-for-water agreement,” he said.
Following
Lapid’s recent visit to Jordan, he said, a statement was issued showing that
the peace process and cooperation were discussed in an economic context.
According to
Momani, “the Israelis took it upon themselves to talk about this project, as an
Israeli minister announced recently that as a result of this cooperation,
10,000 Jordanian workers will be employed.”
“The absence of
peace between Israel and Palestine has hampered many projects and ambitions,”
he said, adding that “my own expectation is that there will be economic
cooperation in the future.”
“The Palestinian
side might be involved in future cooperation,” he said, adding: “The peace
process needs to strengthen economic cooperation, as a state of mutual
dependence enhances the peace process.”
He stressed that
a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem is important, and it
could be found “through the resumption of meaningful negotiations that lead to
tangible solutions”, especially regarding two states living side by side in
peace.
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