Jordanian option
The Jordanian option refers to a range of proposals and strategies aimed at resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict through the involvement of neighboring Jordan.
Historically, this concept has encompassed various ideas, including Jordan retaking control over parts of the West Bank, establishing a federation or confederation between Jordan and a Palestinian state, or envisioning Jordan as a homeland for Palestinians, implying a resettlement of much of the West Bank's Arab population to Jordan and the Israeli annexation of the territory. The viability and acceptance of the Jordanian option have fluctuated over time, with different leaders and groups either supporting or opposing it at different periods.
The West Bank became a distinct territorial entity when Transjordan captured it during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Jordan subsequently lost control of the West Bank to Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War. After the war, Israeli leaders, particularly from the Labor Party, contemplated returning a significant portion of the West Bank to Jordan. King Hussein of Jordan supported this approach, and negotiations between him and Israeli representatives were largely focused on this issue, with proposals such as the Allon Plan and the Federation Plan. In 1985, Hussein and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat formalized a joint position advocating for a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation. The secret Peres–Hussein London Agreement of April 1987 resulted from extensive covert discussions between Israel and Jordan on this matter.
However, in 1988, Hussein renounced Jordanian claims to the West Bank. Although support for the confederation model was expressed by figures such as Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat in the subsequent decade, Jordanian officials have since opposed this option and endorsed the two-state solution instead. Given the limited success of other proposed solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in some corners there are attempts at reconsidering the Jordanian option as a potential resolution.
Background
The Kingdom of Jordan, originally established as the Emirate of Transjordan, was created after World War I by the victorious colonial powers. Its territory was carved out in 1921 from lands that were part of British-ruled Palestine, which itself was formed from the remnants of the Ottoman Empire. The state's formation was influenced by the territorial ambitions of its ruling Hashemite dynasty, led by Abdullah I, who sought to create a Greater Syria that included Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Palestine. This plan did not come to fruition. As Abdullah realized that achieving this vision was unattainable, he focused solely on Palestine, considering it part of a unified entity with Transjordan. In the 1930s, Jordan's rulers began to engage in Palestinian affairs, acting as intermediaries for Arab factions during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt.The British withdrawal from Palestine in May 1948 presented Jordan with an opportunity to exert control over parts of the region through military action. In the aftermath of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Jordan occupied the territory that became known as the West Bank, originally designated for an Arab state by the 1947 UN partition plan. Jordan annexed the area, granted Jordanian citizenship to its residents, and also took control of East Jerusalem. The annexation followed several conferences, most notably the Jericho Conference on December 1, 1948, where Palestinian leaders denounced the Egypt-aligned All-Palestine Government, called for Jordan to annex the West Bank, and pledged allegiance to Abdullah as the king of a unified state.
In 1950, Jordanian citizenship was extended to Palestinian refugees in Jordan, leading them to be content with the status quo and to actively work on advancing and reinforcing it. In the 1950s and 1960s, King Hussein as well as other Jordanian officials frequently stated that "Jordan is Palestine and Palestine is Jordan." King Hussein often emphasized that Jordanians and Palestinians were united as one people with a shared destiny. Due to internal challenges and the influence of Arab nationalism, Jordan participated in the 1967 Six-Day War, resulting in the loss of the West Bank to Israel.
It is estimated that at least 50 percent of Jordan's population is of Palestinian descent. As of 2023, more than 2 million Palestinians are registered as refugees with UNRWA in Jordan, although most are also Jordanian citizens holding national ID numbers.
"Jordan is Palestine and Palestine is Jordan": Jordanian concept of full integration
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Jordanian government, including King Hussein and other officials, promoted the slogan "Jordan is Palestine and Palestine is Jordan." This reflected the Hashemite strategy to integrate Palestinians into Jordanian society and to present the populations on both sides of the Jordan River as a single, unified group. The regime aimed to prevent the emergence of a separate Palestinian identity and power base. Jordanian citizenship was extended to Palestinians both in Jordan and the West Bank, which contributed to their contentment with the status quo and their efforts to support and reinforce it."Jordanian option": Palestinian-Jordanian federation or confederation
1967–1970
Jordan joined the 1967 Six-Day War alongside Egypt and Syria, and lost control of the West Bank to Israel. Following the war, Israeli leaders, particularly from the Labor Party, considered returning a significant portion of the West Bank to Jordan as a potential solution to the conflict. King Hussein of Jordan supported this approach, and viewed the return of the West Bank as a matter of 'life and death.' He secured a mandate from the Arab League during the Khartoum Summit to pursue its recovery, believing that failure to do so within one or two years could threaten his position due to rising Israeli influence and the growing detachment of the territory from Jordan. To secure West Bank loyalty, Jordan provided salaries to numerous employees and financial support to key figures, as well as funded various institutions, including municipalities, which received about 25% of their budgets from Amman. At the time, radical factions within the Ba'th parties and the Arab National Movement advocated for transferring power to Jordan's Palestinian majority. They called for establishing a democratic system and replacing Bedouin dominance in the Jordanian military.File:Allon_Plan.svg|thumb|In 1968, Israeli leaders Yigal Allon and Abba Eban presented King Hussein with the Jordanian version of the Allon Plan, which proposed returning parts of the West Bank to Jordan. Disagreements over the plan eventually led to a stalemate in the negotiations.
In 1967, Israeli leaders debated two primary options for addressing the future of the West Bank: the Palestinian option and the Jordanian option. The Palestinian option entailed establishing a Palestinian entity linked to Israel through economic and defense agreements, as proposed in the Allon Plan by Yigal Allon. This plan suggested annexing the Jordan Valley and parts of the West Bank to Israel while creating an autonomous Arab region in the remaining areas. However, opposition from Prime Minister Levi Eshkol and other ministers prevented the plan from being adopted. Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan sought input from West Bank leaders and maintained support for both options. However, negotiations with Palestinian leaders were hindered by their adherence to the broader Arab position established at the Khartoum Summit, which rejected negotiations with Israel.
By mid-1968, as progress on the Palestinian option appeared unlikely, Israeli leaders increasingly favored the Jordanian option, which was endorsed by key figures such as Abba Eban following his first meeting with Hussein in May 1968. Early in the same year, Yigal Allon adapted the Allon Plan to propose that Jordan receive full control of the West Bank, rather than establishing Palestinian autonomy. This revised plan was informally presented by Eban and Allon to Hussein in another meeting in September 1968. However, disagreements on critical issues, including the status of Jerusalem and interpretations of UNSCR 242, led the negotiations to a stalemate.
1970–1980
In 1970, the PFLP hijacked four jetliners in Jordan, igniting them and triggering the "Black September", a Jordanian crackdown on Palestinian fedayeen militants. This period saw a significant shift in Israeli-Jordanian relations, particularly after Jordan's expulsion of Palestinian fedayeen in July 1971. During this period, Israel became a crucial ally for the stability of Jordan, with bilateral relations strengthening through secret talks that resumed in October 1970.Following the "Black September", King Hussein expressed gratitude for Israeli support during the crisis and explored possibilities for further cooperation. However, when Yigal Allon proposed establishing a framework on the West Bank, which aligned with his earlier Allon Plan, Hussein's response was cautious. Ultimately, Meir's cabinet rejected Allon's proposal, and Hussein instead introduced his Federation Plan in March 1972. The plan called for establishing a "United Arab Kingdom" with two federal provinces—one in Transjordan and the other in the West Bank—while military and foreign affairs would be managed by a central government in Amman. Hussein aimed to attract Palestinians away from the PLO by demonstrating that a federation with Jordan was the most promising path to ending the occupation of the West Bank. This proposal, however, faced opposition from Palestinians who were either opposed to Hussein's rule or had reservations about it.
Even after "Black September", most West Bank leaders, except Ḥamdi Kan'an, the Mayor of Nablus, preferred to maintain connections with Jordan. In September 1972, when the Arab League discussed severing the connection between the West Bank and Jordan, West Bank mayors strongly opposed the idea, arguing that maintaining the connection was essential for political, economic, and humanitarian reasons.
Between March 1972 and September 1973, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir held six secret meetings with King Hussein of Jordan to discuss potential peace agreements and political arrangements. Hussein consistently stressed that any peace agreement would need to include the full integration of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, into a Jordanian federation and expressed willingness to demilitarize the area once it was under Jordanian rule. Hussein resisted proposals that deviated from this vision, including a defense pact with Israel, and the implementation of the Allon Plan, which suggested territorial adjustments.
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger both advocated for the confederation during the final months of Gerald Ford's presidency, with Kissinger predicting that Israel would have difficulty meeting the Palestine Liberation Organization's expectations. Subsequently, in 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter proposed the confederation concept to Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.