Jordan can be as pro-PA (Palestinian Authority) as it wishes but King Abdullah II knows when it comes to his country’s interests; Israel is a far more trustworthy neighbor than the PA (Palestinian Authority).

As US Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) on Thursday, 2 Teves 5774, Jordan is signaling the US State Department of its concerns should a Palestinian state be established between Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom.

America will be offering Israel high tech gadgetry and weaponry to persuade

Israel to accept PA demands for an IDF withdrawal from the Jordan Valley. America hopes to persuade Israel that high tech weaponry and surveillance equipment can replace the IDF along the Jordan River without compromising security. Many experts disagree, adding to date nothing offered by the America comes close to replacing the effectiveness of having soldiers in that area.

Some of the possibilities being discussed in the deployment of an international force, IDF soldiers remaining or a demilitarized zone basing security on state-of-the-art high-tech devices. To date Israel has opposed the high tech solution for it only detects and notifies but does not chase after illegals trying to cross the border. There is already talk of yet another border fence as the latest border separation is completing between Israel and Egypt.

There is talk of a two stage plan, and in Israel’s eyes, the first stage would permit monitoring the integrity of any agreement. This period Israel feels must be three decades, following which a final agreement can go into effect.

If the PA has its way, its armed forces will replace the IDF in the Jordan Valley. It is yet to be determined what weapons would be at their disposal.

From Amman’s point of view, it much prefers the continued presence of IDF soldiers along its border instead of armed PA forces, with the former proven as reliable and the latter, a far car from the modern-day warriors that Abdullah might wish to see on his western border.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)