POMED Notes: “A Statesman’s Forum with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh”

The Brookings Institution hosted a forum on Monday with moderator Martin Indyk, former U.S. ambassador to Israel and Vice President and Director of the Foreign Policy program at Brookings and featured speaker Foreign Minister Nasser S. Judeh.  Martin Indyk made brief introductory remarks acknowledging the presence of the ambassadors from Morocco, Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority in the audience.

To read full notes continue below, or click here for pdf.   For full audio, click here.

FM Nasser Judeh began his remarks by discussing the Middle East peace process stating that Jordan has been at the forefront of the two-state solution advocating for a sovereign and territorially contiguous Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel as well as a comprehensive peace deal between Israel and Arab states.  Judeh stated that King Abdullah II played a crucial role in the development of the Arab Peace Initiative (API) of 2002 with Saudi Arabia.  The API, he said, represents a historic offer that has been ignored continually by successive Israeli governments.  The initiative is also endorsed by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) which would give Israel recognition from all Arab and Muslims states in the world.  He called on Israel to accept the offer and bring a formal end to the conflict.

Judeh outlined the positive benefits a peace deal would have on the region and the world.  Israel would receive “collectively guaranteed security” and trans-border cooperation on “interregional mega-projects,” such as oil pipelines, gas/electric grid linkage, and railway/land transportation networks, would usher in a new era of economic prosperity to the regions residents.  A stable Middle East would also bring wider international security and stifle the appeal violent extremist groups currently have in the region.  A comprehensive peace deal would also help nuclear non-proliferation efforts in the region and may lead to a nuclear free Middle East.

However, the FM cautioned that there remain few opportunities left to bring about a final peace deal.  Unilateral policies, such as continued settlement building by the Israeli government, are “eroding the edifice of the two-state solution.”  He called for “thinking outside the box” in new approaches to negotiations cautioning against the continued use of previously failed ones.  Conflict resolution methods should replace conflict management methods which are no longer of any benefit.  Without a negotiated solution that addresses the legitimate grievances of the Palestinians, Israel is looking at a one-state solution in which it will have to choose between democracy and discrimination, he argued.

Indyk and Judeh then engaged in a brief back and forth with Judeh answering a number of Indyk’s questions.  Indyk posed the question of how to jumpstart the peace process again to which Judeh replied that restarting peace talks was really a question of realizing that the “windows of opportunity are closing.”  He said that border and security issues need to be frontloaded into negotiations on settlement freezes and that it was time for some “out of the box” ideas to be put forth.  Indyk then asked if setting a deadline on negotiations could possibly backfire and give Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran’s message of liberation through violence credibility.  Judeh responded that there were no deadlines in place, simply timeframes agreed upon by all parties.  If those timeframes lapse without a peace deal it will strengthen arguments for “alternatives” to negotiations.  Judeh also spoke about the API and suggested that it could be “operationalized” and that the initiative provided vast opportunities to advance peace between Israel and the Arab/Muslim world.   He also cautioned the U.S., which plays the leading role in peace talks, to discontinue failed approaches and that fresh ideas from the U.S. are required. 

Indyk also asked Judeh about the leaked Al-Jazeera transcripts known as the “Palestine Papers.”  Judeh declined to comment on them stating that from what he knew they corresponded to internal Palestinian discussions rather than negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.  On the impact of the Jasmine Revolution Judeh stated that Jordan respects the will and choice of the Tunisian people and noted that there is serious economic hardship all over the world, including Jordan.  He said that public expression is important but that generalizing scenarios and applying them to other situations is pointless.

In response to a question about King Abdullah’s comments regarding a “Shi’ite Crescent” and Iran’s influence in Syria and Lebanon via Hezbollah, Judeh stated that Jordan has been in recent contact with the Iranians and maintains an official policy of non-interference in other countries affairs.  He reiterated that the main problem of the region was the lack of Arab-Israeli peace and that remains the root cause of tension in the region.  Judeh refused to elaborate on another question regarding any concrete steps the Obama administration should take on the peace process before the election cycle starts in the U.S.  Judeh also reiterated that imposing a solution on the sides would not work.

A reporter from Al-Jazeera posed a question on the recently released “Palestine Papers” asking whether or not the Palestinians were keeping Jordan fully informed in light of the information that has been released regarding unprecedented Palestinian concessions to the Israelis.   Judeh responded that Jordan has been kept informed of progress on negotiations but warned that Al-Jazeera was “editorializing” the information that it has been releasing and that none of it has been independently verified.  Judeh said he could not comment on something that was not credible yet.  Commenting on the exchange between Al-Jazeera and Judeh, another audience member asked if it would be better for Arab governments to be truthful about such concessions rather than simply continue to “quote UN resolutions.”  Judeh responded that he was not being defensive and that Jordan does not hide anything from the “Arab street” and that Jordan was an open society with freedom of expression.  Judeh grimaced at a follow up question from a member of Human Rights Watch about increasing public freedoms for Jordanians.  He challenged the assertion by reiterating that Jordan has freedom of the press and expression.  In addition, Jordan is about to begin an ambitious program of political and economic reform and such reform does not come without social cost, he continued.  He further claimed that current protests in Jordan were peaceful and non-violent and asked that people focus on the “good” in Jordan rather than on “what needs fixing.”