Jordan's Parliament Votes to Recommend Expelling Israeli Ambassador

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Facts

  • The Jordanian parliament has voted to recommend expelling Israel’s ambassador to Amman, following controversial comments from Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich earlier this week. 1
  • Smotrich declared there is “no such thing” as Palestinians and that they are "an invention" of the past century in a speech made in France on Sunday. He made the address while standing by an expanded map of Israel that included Jordan, as well as Gaza and the occupied West Bank among its territory.2
  • In response, the Jordanian parliament debated the recommendation to expel the ambassador on Wednesday, warning that Jordan considers Smotrich's comments to be a violation of its peace treaty with Israel.3
  • Jordanian MPs said Smotrich’s actions reflect "Israeli arrogance [and] disrespect of international treaties and conventions." However, Israel’s national security advisor has assured Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi that Israel respects the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.4
  • The vote to expel the ambassador is not binding on the Jordanian government until the Senate endorses the vote. Known as the king's council, the Senate is appointed by the monarch and has the power to veto any parliamentary votes.5
  • Jordan signed a peace agreement with Israel in 1994 that normalized relations between the two countries. Egypt and the UAE, which also have peace agreements with Israel, have criticized Smotrich’s remarks.6

Sources: 1Al Jazeera, 2ITN, 3Jerusalem Post, 4Al Arabiya English, 5Al Bawaba, and 6JNS.

Narratives

  • Pro-Palestine, as provided by Crisis Group. A significant number of Jordanians are part of the Palestinian diaspora and Smotrich's inflammatory comments impact not just Palestine, but also other Arab countries. Israel's far-right government is deliberately antagonizing its neighbors which will only serve to escalate tensions and fuel conflict. The Israeli government has created a tinderbox and is now looking for ways to spark it.
  • Pro-Israel, as provided by The Jewish Press. This is a childish game of tit-for-tat politics. Smotrich wasn't even the organizer of the event in France, nor was he the one who hung the map over the lectern. Furthermore, that map merely showed the original boundaries of the Jewish homeland as agreed upon in the San Remo Conference of April 1920. If Jordan truly had such a problem with Israel it would stop accepting support from the nation — all of this kickback is just performative rhetoric on the global stage.