The Jordanian option: the West Bank back to Jordan, or a Jordanian–Palestinian federation
Instead of a separate Palestinian state, the populated parts of the West Bank return to Jordanian rule or join Jordan in a federation, while Israel keeps security zones such as the Jordan Valley.
What happens to Israeli Jews
Israel would deal with a state it has been at peace with since 1994 rather than with a new one, and could keep security zones along the Jordan. It removes the fear of a Palestinian state as a base for attacks, but not the question of Jerusalem.
What happens to Palestinians
Self-rule or a region within a Jordanian or federal state, with Jordanian citizenship, but not an independent state. Palestinians would be governed from Amman, as the West Bank was from 1950 to 1967.
What it requires
- A Jordanian king willing to take back responsibility for the West Bank, which Jordan formally gave up in 1988
- Palestinians accepting Hashemite rule or a federation in place of their own state, after the PLO won recognition as their sole representative (Arab League, Rabat 1974)
- Israel agreeing to borders and a Jerusalem arrangement Jordan could accept
- Stability in Jordan itself, where a large share of citizens are of Palestinian origin
Who supports it
For two decades it was the preferred option of Israel's Labor party. The Allon Plan (1967) proposed returning the populated West Bank to Jordan while Israel kept the Jordan Valley. King Hussein proposed a 'United Arab Kingdom' of two regions in March 1972, rejected by most parties. The London Agreement between Foreign Minister Peres and King Hussein (11 April 1987) set a framework for an international conference with a joint Jordanian–Palestinian delegation; Prime Minister Shamir rejected it. On 31 July 1988, during the First Intifada, Hussein announced Jordan's disengagement from the West Bank, which ended the option in its original form. Today no party runs on it: Jordan rejects any plan that makes it the 'alternative homeland' (al-watan al-badil) for Palestinians, and the PLO rejects anything short of a state. A confederation between a Palestinian state and Jordan, after independence, is still floated occasionally.
What history says
- Jordanian rule over the West Bank, 1950–1967, with Jordanian citizenship for its residents
- The Allon Plan (1967) and Hussein's federation plan (1972)
- The 1985 Amman Agreement between Hussein and Arafat on a future confederation, suspended by Jordan in 1986
- The London Agreement (1987), negotiated and then rejected inside Israel's own government
The hard questions
- Is 'give the West Bank back to Jordan' a solution, or a way of not dealing with the Palestinians as a people (see 'Jordan is Palestine')?
- Why did Jordan walk away from the West Bank in 1988, and what would make it come back?
- Would Palestinians who fought for recognition as a people accept a king instead of a state, and should they have to?
- Was the London Agreement a missed opportunity, and whose?