WASHINGTON, June 8 (UPI) -- Former Jordanian and Palestinian officials are pushing for greater economic and security cooperation between the two Arab nations, even noting the distant possibility for the future confederation of their governments.
The idea has attracted recent attention amid strained relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority following Hamas's victory in January's parliamentary elections, which diminished the short-term prospects for greater cooperation across the Jordan River.
In May, the Hashemite kingdom accused Hamas of stockpiling weapons within its borders and arrested 20 of its members for planning attacks inside Jordan.
The Damascus-based Hamas leadership opposes deeper ties with Amman, according to Rami Nasballah of the International Peace Cooperation Center.
However, former Jordanian Prime Minister Abdul Salam al-Majali and former Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Youssef think cooperation is still viable. Such a prospect and its benefits to the larger Middle East were the topic of discussion at an American Enterprise Institute forum Tuesday.
"We have to look to the future," Majali said. "The Jordanian-Palestinian relationship is as old as history. These relations were not institutionalized but just movements of people from one place to another because of the drought or violence.
"The relationship, however, was never properly formalized. The solidarity of this plan distinguishes it from other proposals... I believe that now it would help to settle this relation for good."
Youssef said that the Palestinians should work together on a "political track and a security track," and held that Palestinian statehood might be achieved through a democratic confederation with Jordan.
The two neighbors have deep historic ties and the notion of a confederation between them is not new.
Until 1994, when Jordan and Israel made peace, the West Bank was claimed as part of Jordan. The idea of some brand of integration between the two percolated prior to the treaty and has floated around since then.
"The identities are recent and alien, but persistent and powerful," said Bernard Lewis, professor emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University.
The call for intensified cooperation re-emerged with Israel's unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and similar plans to extricate several thousand Jewish settlers from most of the West Bank in the near future.
Youssef maintained, however, that the two sides should abandon their unilateral approach and instead examine the prospect of third party assistance to avoid an impasse.
"Convergent plans make things more difficult," said Youssef. "There is a unique relationship between Jordan and Palestine, and Palestine can find hope in building a state of their own."
The impact the plan would have on Israeli security also concerns many in region.
Majali stated his belief that Israel could better cooperate with a democratic Palestinian government that could result from the Jordanian-Palestinian relationship.
Nasballah echoed this sentiment, but held the region faces a grim future if a Palestinian government is not soon stabilized. "Without a democratic Palestinian state, there is no future for Israel. It's all about this issue," he said.
Edward Gnehm, former American ambassador to Jordan, told UPI that although integration between Jordan and the Palestinian Authority would improve opportunities for peace with Israel, he did not think that the Palestinian people would accept such an arrangement.
"Confederation between Jordan and the West Bank helps in dealing with a number of concerns of the different parties, in particular the security issue, because ooperation between Jordan and Israel since the peace treaty has been excellent.
"Palestinians are fearful that a confederation would be a disguise for Jordanians occupation and a substitute for Palestinian statehood."
Still, Majali asserted that a desire for stability in the region will prevail and eventually lead to Israel's acceptance of the accord.
A former advisor to King Hussein, Majali first recommended such a collaboration with the Palestinians to the then-ruler in 1989 but now believes the time is riper than ever for its implementation.
"Acceptance is key," he said. "Peace is a state of mind."
