Jordanian prime minister: Let’s work on a one-state solution
“You close the door to the two-state solution, I could very well look at this positively, if we’re clearly opening the door to a one-state democratic solution,” Razzaz told The Guardian.
By LAHAV HARKOVJordan's Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz speaks to the media during his news conference in Amman, Jordan April 9, 2019(photo credit: REUTERS/MUHAMMAD HAMED)
Jordan could be in favor of one, democratic state for Israel and the Palestinians, Jordanian Prime Minister Omar Razzaz said on Tuesday.“You close the door to the two-state solution, I could very well look at this positively, if we’re clearly opening the door to a one-state democratic solution,” Razzaz told The Guardian.Jordan has long been in favor of two states for two peoples, and Razzazz’s comments mark a shift in the Kingdom’s leaders’ public remarks.Most of the Israeli political spectrum opposes what Razzazz suggested, arguing that it would mean the end of the only Jewish state if the Palestinian population surpasses the Jewish one.The Jordanian prime minister pointed this out, saying “nobody in Israel is talking about that.”Razzazz, who is appointed by the king of Jordan, as is the rest of the Jordanian cabinet and Senate, repeatedly emphasized the need for democracy and equality in the one state.“I challenge anybody from Israel to say yes, let’s end the two-state solution, it’s not viable,” Razzazz said. “But let’s work together on a one-state democratic solution. That, I think, we will look at very favorably.”However, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi tweeted that there is “no alternative to [a] two-state solution that guarantees [an] independent Palestinian state with occupied Jerusalem as capital on June 4, 1967 lines on [the] basis of international law.”Safadi’s comments came after he and UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process, Nickolay Mladenov, “discussed efforts to prevent annexation and resume meaningful peace talks,” he wrote.Razzazz spoke out against the possibility that Israel may apply its laws to parts of Judea and Samaria, in accordance with US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, claiming that doing so would be “ushering in a new apartheid state.”
The Trump plan also calls for a demilitarized Palestinian state to be established in 70% of the West Bank.Jordanian King Abdullah and other leading officials have vocally opposed sovereignty moves in recent months.“The way we see it, anything short of a viable two-state solution is going to push not just Jordan, not just Palestine, not just Israel, but the region and the world into chaos,” Razzazz said.He also closed the door on an idea some on the Israeli far-right have promoted, that Jordan, which has a large Palestinian population, is the Palestinian state and would give West Bank Palestinians citizenship.
