FORECASTING THE END OF THE
HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN
And Israel's Future 'Palestinian State'
"It was the first time in decades
that a senior Israeli military or
intelligence official publicly
predicted the demise of the Hashemite kingdom."
MER - MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 3 March:
The Israelis won't say it in public, but the realities of their actual
geopolitical strategy, as well as their 'Revisionist Zionist' ideology,
are that when the day comes that they can manage it they will manuever
world events, U.S. policies, and through the Americans at least the
Europeans and the U.N., so that what was once called 'Transjordan' will
become known as the 'Palestinian State'. And it is in that territory,
East of the Jordan River, where they will insist Palestinian
aspirations, Palestinian refugees, and as many of those west of the
Jordan Palestinians as they can manage, will have to find their future
one way or another.
Carved out of the area then historically known as Greater Syria
and Palestine by the Brits as a consolution prize to the Hashemite clan
after World War I -- this after the al-Sauds bested the Hashemites and
became rulers of the Holy Places of the Arab Heartland in the area that
then became known as Saudi Arabia -- the Israelis use to proclaim out
loud that 'Jordan is Palestine'.
They still are planning on that eventuality one day which helps
explain how they have handled their relations with the Palestinians
ever since grabbing the West Bank and Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967.
And, in fairness to the Israelis, with their own peculiar twists on
Jewish and Arab history, many of them truly believe that this is the
'right' way to divide the territories and resources of the area once
known as the Holy Land.
But the Hashemite alliance with the U.S. and the U.K, especially
with the C.I.A., has been too strong for the Israelis to actually
pursue this long-term goal and bring it about...so far. Moreover there
are other geopolitical considerations the Israelis have had to factor
in until now, as well as warnings they have received from Washington at
critical times, involving oil, weapons, and arms.
But even now as he passes from the scene, Ariel Sharon personally
was always known as a long-term advocate of 'Jordan is Palestine', as
were Golda Meir and Menachem Begin before him. And though Sharon took
the oath of office not under the portrait of Theodore Herzl or David
Gen-Gurion, but rather under the photo of Vladamir Jabotinsky, founder
of 'Revionist Zionism' and the 'Iron Wall', Sharon himself will not be
around to see these policies through as much as he more than anyone
else has set the stage for the this future.
It is in this context that the following article has just been
published today by a Washington news service associated with both the
Zionist Neocons and the right-wing Evangelicals in the U.S., published
just in advance by the way of the upcoming Jewish-Israeli Lobby Annual
Conference next week where all the leading Washington power brokers
will be conducting the business of the Middle East behind closed doors
while the public sessions will be recorded and televised.
Israeli intelligence predicts fall of Jordan's Hashemite kingdom
JERUSALEM — Israel's intelligence community has determined that stability is declining in Egypt and Jordan.
The two countries, which have
peace agreements with Israel, are considered as among the most powerful
states in the Middle East. Egypt and Jordan both have air forces based
on U.S. platforms.
"I don't want to be a prophet,"
said Maj. Gen. Yair Naveh, head of Israel military's Central Command.
"But I don't think there will be another king after Abdullah."
Naveh, who meets regularly with
senior Jordanian military commanders, said 80 percent of Jordan's
population was Palestinian. In a lecture at the Jerusalem Center for
Public Affairs on Feb. 22, Naveh, referring to intelligence
assessments, said the strengthening of Hamas and Al Qaida-aligned
groups would eventually end Hashemite rule in Jordan.
"There is already a Palestinian
majority [in Jordan]," Naveh said. "There are ties to Hamas. In another
few years, there will be a great strengthening of Hamas in Jordan."
It was the first time in decades
that a senior Israeli military or intelligence official publicly
predicted the demise of the Hashemite kingdom. Naveh did not offer a
timetable.
Officials said military
intelligence has envisioned a long-term Islamic threat against Egypt
and Jordan that would affect the military balance with Israel.
The Islamic opposition would
hamper Hashemite rule in Jordan as well as efforts by Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak to transfer power to his son, Gamal, they said.
Last week, two senior military
commanders discussed these assessments in public forums, provoking
diplomatic protests from unspecified nations.
Later, officials said Israel had
raised concerns over the future of Abdullah's regime during a strategic
dialogue with the United States in late 2005. They said Israel also
reported a decline in the stability of the regimes in Egypt, Syria and
the Palestinian Authority.
"These things are known," said
Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, after an intelligence
briefing on Feb. 23. "We don't need the generals to know this."
On Feb. 22, Deputy Chief of
Staff Maj. Gen. Moshe Kaplinski told a gathering of industrialists in
Haifa that Mubarak was losing his authority. Kaplinski referred to the
increasing strength of the Muslim Brotherhood and the deteriorating
health of the Egyptian president.
|
Jordan's King Abdullah, left, gesticulates to Brunei Sultan Hassanal
Bolkiah as they take a break after visiting Brunei's Special Combat
Squadron on March 2, 2006. AP Photo/Rudolf Portilli
|
"Also in Egypt, there are signs
of wavering of the regime," Kaplinski said. "The entire area is very
dynamic and highlighted by a lack of certainty."
Hours later, Israeli Defense
Minister Shaul Mofaz and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz released a
joint statement that described Jordan's future as bright. Officials
said Naveh would also send an apology to Jordan. Kaplinski was not
publicly rebuked.
"There has been a drastic change
in the assessment by military intelligence over the last few weeks," an
official said. "Military intelligence was surprised by the Hamas
victory [in Palestinian Legislative Council elections] and the
significant rise of the Brotherhood in Egypt. We could be witnessing
the formation of an Islamic ring around Israel, and the military feels
it must provide warning."
Naveh said Israel faces the
prospect of an Islamic takeover in such Arab countries as Iraq, Jordan
and the Palestinian Authority. This could result in the revival of a
hostile eastern front against the Jewish state, particularly following
of an expected U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq in 2007.
Officials said Al Qaida and
Hamas could consolidate the Arab eastern front. Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi,
a Jordanian national who heads the Al Qaida network in Iraq, has been
recruiting Palestinians to establish a presence along the
Israeli-Jordanian frontier. Over the past two years, Jordan has
captured dozens of suspected Al Zarqawi operatives accused of planning
attacks against Israeli and U.S. interests.
Naveh said Israel's military has
already detected signs of an Al Zarqawi presence in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip. He said Al Zarqawi has sought to build a support
infrastructure that would eventually recruit Palestinians for
mass-casualty attacks against Israel.
"Al Qaida is trying to establish
awareness in the Gaza Strip," Naveh said. "The next stage is for
terrorism. I don't think Zarqawi will bring terrorists to Gaza. He
doesn't have to. What he can do is exploit Hamas and take it [attacks]
to another level."
