During a field trip to the ironically named Island of Peace in Naharayim in March 1997, Ahmad Daqamseh, a Jordanian soldier, brutally massacred seven young Israeli girls, ages 13 to 14.
Daqamseh, who tried to claim that the girls deserved that punishment because they were “making fun of him while he was praying,” is seen to this day within large parts of Jordanian society as a “hero.” His family has reportedly expressed pride in his horrendous actions.
What came next shocked the entire world: in an act of courage and simple humanity, the Jordanian monarch, King Hussein himself, decided to cut a diplomatic visit to Spain short and pay tribute to the bereaved families in their own homes, kneeling before the parents and expressing his condolences and apologies. This gesture was especially significant in the Middle East, where honor plays a major societal role.
“Your daughter is like my daughter, and your loss is my loss. May Allah help you carry this pain and bless you and keep you,” said the former Jordanian king to one of the bereaved mothers.
Miri Meiri, the mother of Ya’ala Meiri, who Daqamseh massacred, later testified about the king’s visit: “His eyes, which were filled with consolation… I will always carry this moment with me. That a leader like Hussein, King Hussein, can also be a humane person, a man with a noble spirit.”
A cycle of Jordanian violence
Twenty-seven years later, another Jordanian citizen committed a heinous crime, murdering three Israeli workers at the Allenby Bridge border crossing on Sunday.
The perpetrator, Maher Al-Jazi, is reportedly part of the non-Palestinian tribal minority in Jordan, which, according to some estimates, numbers around 20% of the population. According to reports, Al-Jazi hails from the southern Ma’an governorate, an area known to be especially poverty-stricken and once a known stronghold of Jihadist elements who were a source of concern for the local authorities.
Just like 27 years ago, following the attack, Jordanians from across the country were seen rejoicing and celebrating, distributing sweets for the assassination of three innocent 50–60-year-olds and praising Al-Jazi for his so-called “heroic” action. However, this time, no king was to be seen or heard.
Formal Jordanian authorities, such as the Foreign Ministry, casually commented that the country “condemns violence and targeting civilians for any reason.” Still, King Abdullah II’s silence resonates even louder than the music and celebrations sounded by the masses.
King Abdullah’s silence is especially striking because in 2014, then-president Shimon Peres and an array of Israeli officials expressed their condolences to the king publicly and personally following an incident in which a Jordanian citizen was shot at that same crossing while reportedly attempting to steal a weapon from a security guard.
Israel and Jordan: A relationship of twists and turns
Relations between Israel and Jordan are as complex as relations in the Middle East can get. Historically, the Zionist leadership and Hashemite family enjoyed strong relations, with examples such as the 1919 Faisal-Weizmann agreement, which featured mutual recognition of the political aspirations of the Zionist movement and the Hashemites, or Hussein’s 1973 warning to the Israeli leadership of an imminent war.
Other lesser-known examples are meetings between the leaders of the Yishuv (Jewish settlements) and the Hashemite family during the 1920s and 1930s, which featured talks of potential collaboration in the field of electricity and even an offer for Jews to buy lands in the Transjordan region.
On the other hand, the countries constantly find themselves at odds surrounding regional issues, especially Jerusalem. For a century, the Hashemites, who lost the rule over Islam’s holy sites of Mecca and Medina in the 1920s to the Al-Saud family, have attempted to establish their legitimacy to govern by stressing their responsibilities over the third-holiest site for Islam: the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.
In the 1994 peace agreement, Israel acknowledged the Hashemites’ “special role,” a custodial role, in Jerusalem. According to the current status quo, the Jordanian-supported Waqf (Islamic Trust) is responsible for the Temple Mount’s maintenance. This fact creates much friction with both militant Palestinians who reject foreign Jordanian rule in the holy city and the Israeli government, which views unified Jerusalem as its eternal capital.
The Palestinians in Jordan, who, according to some conservative estimates, comprise around 65% of the local population, are also a source of friction between the countries. Though the two neighbors officially signed a peace treaty three decades ago, much of this peace remains frozen solid as trade unions, corporations, and politicians in Jordan compete in the sport of blacklisting and shaming anyone who dares normalize relations with Israel.
Despite all this, the two countries boast a heavily symbiotic relationship, perhaps much to the dismay of some on both sides.
Jordan is a main benefactor from Israel’s expertise in fields such as water, agriculture, and tourism, though to a lesser extent since the October 7th massacre. The countries constantly exchange intelligence and information regarding Jihadi and Iranian threats to Jordan.
Israel and Jordan understand that the Hashemite Kingdom is an essential asset in obstructing Iranian influence in the Middle East. The Jordanian Air Force participated in defending its airspace during the April 2024 Iranian ballistic attack, and Jordanian intelligence acted to stop weapon and drug smuggling on its largely open borders with Iraq, Syria, and the West Bank.
For the foreseeable future, the two neighbors will continue to fight together to push off Iranian and Jihadist influence, despite differences, frictions, and ideological clashes between them.
However, in the spirit of good neighborship and for the sake of historical relations and future generations, it was expected that the Jordanian leadership would bravely, just like King Hussein, express their condolences to the families of those killed by Jordanian nationals and openly denounce all and any celebrations of violence and terror.