According to World Israel News, as well as other papers, an AP report writes that Jordan’s king, Abdullah II, proposed that Jordan and Israel will set up a joint wheat reserves and a food storage center. The purpose of the center is to offset “the negative repercussions of the Russian war in Ukraine,” since the two countries “account for a third of global wheat and barley exports, which countries in the Middle East rely on to feed millions of people who subsist on subsidized bread and bargain noodles.” Regrettably, I have never seen a connection with Jordan, under this king or the former, that yielded anything good for Israel. I have no faith in his “good intentions.”
Until today, and I have no reason to believe that it will change going forward, anything that we have given King Abdullah has been used against us. As it happened with the water and electricity agreement, so it will happen with the wheat, and with everything else we will include in that “joint” storage.
Despite the warm welcome that Israeli president Herzog received in Jordan, the voices coming from there now are the complete opposite. They will turn against us in an instant.
I can understand Abdullah’s interest. Such an agreement will give him power among the Arab states, but I do not think it is our job to give him that. The better we relate to him, the more we strengthen his negative attitude toward us.
If we lived in a corrected international relationship, it would look very different. There would not be exploitation but real partnership. We would still establish joint ventures in agriculture, water, and energy, but we would do so with a very different aim in mind: not to exploit but to strengthen the bonds between us. If that were the motive, I would be all for it.
As it is, when we give and give and give, and see only hostility in return, I see nothing good in this relationship. Jordan wants to get the most from us, give nothing back, and gain respect among our enemies. I do not see why we should go along with it.
Image Caption:
Israeli President Isaac Herzog shakes hands with Jordan’s King Abdullah II during a diplomatic visit to Amman, Jordan March 30, 2022. Haim Zach/Government Press Office (GPO)/via REUTERS.
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