The 10th Anniversary of the Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty

Jordan has been my home twice, first in 1990-91 when I was political attaché with the U.S. Embassy, and now with my current posting as Deputy Chief of Mission and temporary Charge d’Affaires. The opportunity to serve a second time as a diplomat in the same country does not often occur, and presents the opportunity to view a country and its foreign relations in two distinct timeframes. The contrast in Jordan between my time here in 1990 and today is considerable and due, in no small part, to that series of events that began at Madrid and led to Wadi Araba.

The peace treaty signed in October 1994 not only ended a formal state of war between Jordan and Israel, but opened a new horizon of peaceful coexistence for the people of both countries. And while many of the expectations that surrounded that event and the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993 remain unmet, there can be no doubt about the great benefits that have come about as a result of this historic step.

There are any number of practical benefits to the treaty: trade and investment; tourism; civil aviation, to name only a few. But the overwhelming benefit must be the vastly improved security environment the treaty has enabled. To be at peace with a neighbor with which a long border is shared is essential to so many things. Peace provides stability, which in turn allows people to make decisions about the future with confidence. Peace provides an environment conducive to investment and encourages tourism, in particular from outside the region. Peace creates for a country an image that encourages international partnership and assistance to help build prosperity and achieve progress.

Ten years ago at Wadi Araba, President Bill Clinton witnessed the historic signing of the treaty by the Jordanian and Israeli Prime Ministers and committed the United States government to support the peace in every way possible. Shortly thereafter, the United States forgave over $700 million in Jordanian debt. By 1997, the U.S. Congress began appropriating considerable increases in U.S. financial and military assistance that have led to Jordan becoming one of the largest recipients of U.S. assistance in the world. The United States provided this assistance not only in the spirit of friendship during a difficult economic period, but because we believed strongly in the need to support the Jordanian government’s bold agenda to achieve peace and prosperity for the Jordanian people.

In 1996, the U.S., Jordanian and Israeli governments established the Qualifying Industrial Zones whose products are exempt from U.S. import duties and quotas and which have created tens of thousands of new jobs for Jordanians and attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in new investment. In 2000, the United States and Jordan signed a bilateral free trade agreement, only the fourth such agreement in the history of the United States. Jordan was designated by the U.S. government as a major non-NATO ally, a designation that enshrines a strategic partnership between our two countries and one that is reserved for only the closest of American friends in the world.

While the security and stability that Jordan has achieved in the ten years since signing its peace treaty with Israel are indisputable, this success has eluded many other peoples in the region. Despite the best efforts of the U.S. and Jordan, too many people in the region continue to suffer under the oppression and uncertainty of conflict. The imperative to achieve a lasting regional peace remains, and we must continue to strive for it.

The United States has worked continuously through Administrations of both political parties to try to bring leaders in the region together to end conflict and pursue a path toward peace. We will continue those efforts. Jordan, too, has played a crucial role in this endeavor, for instance by hosting the parties at Aqaba and in working to restart the roadmap as the basis for achieving President Bush’s vision of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.

While these efforts have played a role in achieving success on a number of occasions, in the end, the decision to pursue peace can only come from the parties themselves. The great leaders who stood that day ten years ago at Wadi Araba understood this; let us hope we see others demonstrate the same wisdom and courage in the days ahead.