Privately, Arab States Won’t Sacrifice Own Interests for Endless Palestinian Authority Demands

Leaders of Arab nations in the Middle East are warning publicly that implementation of Israeli sovereignty over Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley will have “serious consequences.” But sources with knowledge of the situation are saying the truth is very different: “They will give a green light to the Trump peace plan, because our own interests are more important,” the sources said this week in an interview with the Hebrew-language edition of Israel Hayom.

The plan to extend Israeli law to Israeli communities in the Jordan Valley and the major settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria — expected to take place sometime in July, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — has provoked “great unrest and fury” in the Arab world, along with fears of deterioration in the back-channel relations that have developed.

The rulers of the Arab states, particularly Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, warn that applying sovereignty will create a wave of violence and regional instability, and may even jeopardize the peace treaty between Israel and the Jordanians.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II also warned in an interview a week ago with the German newspaper Der Spiegel if Israel “really annexes the West Bank in July, it would lead to a massive conflict with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.”

King Abdullah said, “I don’t want to make threats and create a loggerheads atmosphere, but we are considering all options.” The King avoided stating specifically that annexation would lead to revoking the peace agreement with Israel.

However, senior officials in moderate Arab states make it clear that despite a loud public pan-Arab stance against the sovereignty plan, there are other voices.

Those rulers met with Trump administration envoys Jared Kushner and Avi Berkowitz in recent months, both of whom continue to be completely confident in the effectiveness of the ‘Deal of the Century’ presented by President Donald Trump this past January in Washington.

The Arab leaders have, in effect, given a green light for the Israeli-American mapping team to continue promoting partial annexation despite the public statements expressing their official position against it.

Sunni Arab nations reportedly see the fight against Iran and its Shi’ite influence over the Middle East as the top priority, one more important than the Palestinian Authority matter; they would not want to risk their coinciding interests with the US and Israel over the annexation.