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Rachel Avraham explains how Jordan in recent years has been supporting Arab terrorism against the State of Israel. She argues that the time has come for Israel to stop propping up this pro-terror regime.
On the Temple Mount, two Druze police officers were killed and a third was wounded in a terror attack orchestrated by Israeli Arabs within the past week. Despite the existence of a peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, the Jewish Press reported that the Jordanian government posted a condemnation that no one saw and then they took it down. Meanwhile, the Jordanian government did condemn Israel for violating the status quo by supposedly temporarily shutting down the Al Aqsa Mosque for security reasons and then re-opening it with metal detectors in place. Given these recent actions, as an Israeli, I ponder, with a friend like Jordan, who needs enemies?
This was not the first time that Jordan demonstrated support for terrorism against Israel. In May, when a Jordanian Palestinian terrorist who arrived in Israel as a tourist stabbed an Israeli police officer multiple times, resulting in the terrorist getting shot, the Jordanian government accused Israel of committing a “heinous crime” because they had the audacity to go after a terrorist.
Following that incident, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was furious: “It is outrageous to hear the Jordanian government’s speaker support the terror attack which occurred today in Jerusalem’s Old City. The security video clearly shows a Jordanian tourist stabbing an Israeli policeman with a knife. It’s time Jordan stopped playing both sides of the game. Just like Israel condemns terror attacks in Jordan, Jordan must condemn terror attacks in Israel. Terror is terror.”
One year prior to this, another Jordanian killed 4 people at a restaurant in Israel. According to American Thinker, the prosecutor confirmed: “He was exposed to ISIS teachings while in Jordan.” A recent congressional report confirmed that more than 4,000 Jordanians are fighting with ISIS. As Jordanian dissident Mudar Zahran proclaimed, “The problem with Jordan is the fact that radicalization in Jordan is manufactured, incited, aided and promoted by the regime itself.”
For example, according to a report in the Investigative Project on Terrorism, Jordan released terrorist Ahmed Daqamseh, a former Jordanian soldier who murdered seven Israeli school girls as they visited his country. He received a hero’s welcome upon his release and called for Israel’s destruction on Al Jazeera TV. According to Jordanian sources, the Jordanian regime staged and promoted the hero’s welcome that Daqamseh received. In fact, the Jordanian state media even claimed that any Jordanian should have “done the same.”
It should also be noted that Jordan hosts Al Quds, the official TV station of Hamas. Also Jordan TV, which is controlled by the king, has Hamza Mansour calling to kill all Jews. Mansour even said that 5-year-old Jews must be killed. According to Naseem Gheewan of the Jordanian Opposition Coalition, “This man is a very outspoken loyalist who supports the king with no conditions and loudly. This shows what the Jordanian Opposition Coalition says is true. Mansour cannot open up his mouth without a big green light if not orders from the king. Jordan is not Israel. Nothing goes in the Jordanian media without pre-approval. The king is now mobilizing Islamist fundamentalists to target both the US and Israel.”
In fact, the Jordanian regime’s incitement and other actions have very much contributed to the Knife Intifada and unrest on the Temple Mount in general. According to Jordanian sources, the Jordanian regime routinely describes terror attacks against Israelis as “heroic operations.” Their media has called upon the Palestinians to wage terror attacks against Israelis and the King has stressed that it is his duty to defend Al Aqsa while stressing Israeli violations of the status quo, thus helping to fuel the myth that Al Aqsa is in danger. The King’s media incited for an Intifada long before the Henkin murders that started this present wave of terror.
According to Arutz Sheva, Jordan’s Minister for State Media Mohammed Al Mamani bragged that 70% of the state-controlled media coverage in his country is anti-Israel and “doing its best for the Palestinian cause.” The Israeli Embassy more than once has condemned the Jordanian regime for inciting violence against Israelis in their state-controlled media but the Jordanians have not stopped such incitement despite the Israeli protests. However, Jordan’s contributions to the present wave of terrorism go further than the media incitement.
The whole unrest in Israel began when the Jordanian king hired 100 new guards for the Al Aqsa Mosque, who helped to encourage confrontations around the Temple Mount. Rioters and armed terrorists have barricaded themselves inside the Al Aqsa Mosque while stockpiling rocks and projectiles in the area. Meanwhile, the guards hired by the Jordanian king turned a blind eye to it. This is precisely why Netanyahu now wants for there to be metal detectors placed in front of the Al Aqsa Mosque so that this type of terror can be brought to a halt. Interestingly, Saudi Arabia, who has no diplomatic relations with Israel, demonstrated more understanding of Israel’s security predicament on the Temple Mount than Jordan did.
The time has long since come for Jordan to stop encouraging terrorism against the State of Israel. Jordan’s reaction to Palestinian terrorism poses a direct threat to the State of Israel and the security of its citizens as the Temple Mount attack and these other incidents demonstrated. As Israelis, the time has come for us to stop seeking to prop up a regime that does not work to enhance our security and doesn’t promote regional peace. The time has come to explore alternatives to propping up the Hashemite Regime by attending the Jordan Option Conference at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem on October 17.
Rachel Avraham is an Israeli-American journalist who specializes in counter-terrorism issues, Middle Eastern affairs, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran, Turkey and radical Islam. She is presently working as a senior media research analyst at the Center for Near East Policy Research and as a correspondent for the Israel Resource News Agency. She has a masters degree in Middle Eastern Studies from Ben-Gurion University and a BA in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland at College Park. She is the author of “Women and Jihad: Debating Palestinian Female Suicide Bombings in the American, Israeli and Arab media.” She is in the process of writing “Moroccan Jewish Women: The history of a lost community.”
