Aqaba meeting: Much ado about nothing

Sunday’s Aqaba security meeting, which brought together Palestinian and Israeli officials in a rare publicized event, was held with quite the media fanfare — not all positive. The one-day event, hosted by Jordan with the participation of US and Egyptian senior officials, aimed at de-escalating tensions in the occupied West Bank and resulted in agreement on a number of confidence-building steps to contain the cycle of violence that had been swelling since the start of the year.اضافة اعلان

At the end of the meeting, a joint communiqué was issued citing agreement on several issues, including ending “unilateral measures for three to six months. This includes an Israeli commitment to stop the discussion of any new settlement units for four months and to stop authorization of any outposts for six months.”

Furthermore, the two sides (Palestinian and Israeli) affirmed their commitment to all previous agreements between them and to work towards a just and lasting peace. They reaffirmed the necessity of committing to de-escalation on the ground and to prevent further violence, according to the joint communiqué. According to inside sources, two committees, one civilian and one security-related, are to be formed, meaning that the much-criticized security coordination between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel remains ongoing.

The outcome has been described as a diplomatic triumph and as a breakthrough. But no sooner the communiqué was released than hawkish partners of Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, including the head of the Israeli delegation to the meeting, began to disavow it.

For the host country, which has invested huge political capital in bringing the two sides together with the backing of the US and Egypt, the five parties recognized “the importance of upholding unchanged the historic status quo at the holy sites in Jerusalem in word and practice, and emphasized in this regard the Hashemite Custodianship/special role of Jordan.”

All parties agreed to convene again in Sharm El-Sheikh in March to achieve the goals listed above, reportedly ahead of the onset of the holy month of Ramadan.

The outcome has been described as a diplomatic triumph and as a breakthrough. But no sooner the communiqué was released than hawkish partners of Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, including the head of the Israeli delegation to the meeting, began to disavow it.

According to Israeli media, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich claimed he had no knowledge of the context of the Aqaba discussions. He asserted, “there will not be a freeze on construction and development in the settlement, not even for one day”. Joining him was National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who tweeted later that “what was in Jordan (if it was), will stay in Jordan”. Shortly after, Netanyahu joined the chorus, declaring there would not be any construction freeze over the Green Line. “Construction and regulation in Judea and Samaria will continue according to the original planning and construction schedule, without any changes. There is and will not be any freeze.”

The real objective of the Aqaba meeting, at least the primary one, was to save the now shaky PA and its aging leader Abbas.

Earlier this month, the Far Right government approved the building of 9,000 new illegal settlement housing units in the West Bank while “authorizing” nine new settlements. The Israeli decision triggered a diplomatic crisis, forcing several Arab countries to push for a UN Security Council resolution condemning the Israeli move. But under US pressure, President Mahmoud Abbas caved in, and in the end, the council adopted a coy, non-binding, Presidential Statement.

The Aqaba meeting did not address the recently approved new permits, and Israeli officials stated that the committee responsible for authorizing further settlement expansion would not meet for at least three months.

While Jordan, Egypt, and the US were busy congratulating themselves on the Aqaba feat, violence broke out in the West Bank. Jewish settlers went on the rampage in the Palestinian village of Huwara, torching houses, shops, cars, trees, and everything they could get their hands on. They were avenging the killing of two settlers, hours earlier near the town, by a Palestinian gunman.

For hours Israeli forces prevented Palestinian medics and civil defense teams from entering the town by Israeli soldiers. The Jewish mob killed one Palestinian and injured more than 100. This was the reality on the ground that the Aqaba meeting was hoping to prevent.

Certainly, the bloody events of that day sealed the fate of the agreement.

Netanyahu’s coalition, the most extreme, ideologically and religiously in Israel’s history, will not allow its leader to do any of the things the parties agreed to in Aqaba. This is something that the Biden administration, as well as Jordan and Egypt, must understand by now. In less than two months, Israel killed more than 60 Palestinians. It demolished tens of homes and buildings while looking the other way as Jewish settlers attacked Palestinians and confiscated more land.

The outcomes of Aqaba’s meeting were stillborn and the events preceding Ramadan are a harbinger of how bad things will get during the holy month.

The real objective of the Aqaba meeting, at least the primary one, was to save the now shaky PA and its aging leader Abbas.

Increasing militancy among West Bank Palestinians plays into the hands of Hamas, which is preparing to fill the vacuum created by an inept PA, which has become so unpopular and on the verge of bankruptcy. Netanyahu’s Far Right partners do not see a difference between the two. There is no binary choice here. Palestinians are the enemy, and Smotrich and other Israeli ministers have threatened to dispatch tanks and helicopters to Palestinian towns. Others openly called for burning Huwara to the ground.

The outcomes of Aqaba’s meeting were stillborn, and the events preceding Ramadan are a harbinger of how bad things will get during the holy month.

The settlers, led by Ben Gvir and others, have declared war on the Palestinians, and Netanyahu, who is looking only for his self-interest, can do nothing to stop it. 



Osama Al Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman. 


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