Hussein-PLO Rift Cheers Israel; West Bank Reacts With Both Anger, Concern

Israeli officials Tuesday welcomed the deepening rift between Jordan’s King Hussein and PLO leader Yasser Arafat, while West Bank Palestinians reacted with either anger or concern, depending on their loyalties.

The Israelis said they hope that Jordan’s decision Monday to close 25 offices of Arafat’s mainstream Fatah guerrilla faction and the expulsion order given one of his top lieutenants, Khalil Wazir, would reduce the incidence of terrorism in Israel and the occupied territories and curb PLO influence on the West Bank.

Speaking during a tour of Israel’s southern desert region Tuesday, Prime Minister Shimon Peres described Fatah as “the main obstacle to a solution or to discussion” of the Palestinian problem and called Jordan’s action “a positive development.”

Chances for Peace

Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir said, “I think that anything that weakens this terrorist organization strengthens chances for peace.”

“It is possible that it could cause some unrest in the short run,” added a high-ranking defense source. “But in the long run, it could contribute to the neutralization of the PLO.”

Israel, which sees Jordan as a more desirable negotiating partner than the PLO, has quietly supported what it considers a long-overdue effort by Hussein, begun last spring, to bolster his influence among Palestinians on the West Bank. Hussein acted after a yearlong joint Jordanian-PLO peace initiative collapsed because of what the king has described as PLO duplicity.

However, a wave of pro-PLO sentiment swept through the West Bank when Hussein formally broke the alliance in a speech last Feb. 19. Ten days later, the moderate Arab mayor of Nablus, the largest city on the West Bank, was assassinated, and marchers at his funeral chanted, “Down with Hussein!” and “Hussein is a pig!”

‘Late in the Day’

“The king woke up very, very late in the day,” said one senior Israeli official. “He assumed he had the support (of the West Bank residents), and he didn’t.”

Hussein’s decision to close Fatah’s offices in Amman is seen here as just the latest in a long line of moves that he has made since spring both to isolate PLO supporters and to encourage pro-Jordanian elements on the West Bank.

Those moves include harassment of pro-PLO West Bank residents traveling to Jordan on business, banning others from entering the country and quietly supporting a new East Jerusalem newspaper dedicated to fostering what its editor termed a more realistic attitude toward Palestinian political possibilities.

Most recently, the Jordanians late last month summoned four West Bank Palestinian leaders to Amman and encouraged them to seek appointment as mayors of their respective cities. They were told that Jordan has allocated $150 million for West Bank development under a new five-year plan for the territory--which, although occupied by Israel, has retained Jordanian civil law.

Arab Mayors Wanted

Israel has said it wants to appoint Arab mayors to replace Israeli officers currently running three of the four cities as part of what it characterizes as efforts to improve the quality of life on the West Bank.

Jordan’s announcement Monday stressed that the government still regards the PLO as the “sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people,” and the West Bank mayoral nominees said they were told that the Jordanian desire to have them take over “is not meant to set up an alternative leadership to the PLO.”

Israel, however, makes no bones about wanting to see the emergence of more moderate, non-PLO Palestinians who could join with Jordan in peace talks, giving Hussein the legitimacy he needs to negotiate the Palestinian issue.

‘The Hashemite School’

As one senior Israeli official put it, Jerusalem is “trying to enhance the stature of those who Jordan feels represent the Hashemite school of thought” on the West Bank--referring to Jordan’s royal family. The risk is that any “moderate” Palestinians who step forward may become assassination targets for hard-line groups.

That fear was reflected in the reaction of pro-Jordanian West Bank Palestinians to Hussein’s latest moves. Most refused to comment except anonymously.

“Today I speak no English,” said one.

Promised anonymity, this Palestinian said relations between Jordan and the PLO “seem to have reached a point of no return.”

Another Palestinian notable aligned with Jordan called the decision regrettable and said he hopes that the rift with the PLO can be healed.

Call for Resignations

However, the pro-PLO newspaper Al Fajr, published in Arab East Jerusalem, said “the Jordanian government and Cabinet ministers must shoulder their national responsibility and resign” to protest the moves.

Ibrahim Karaeen, co-owner of the pro-PLO Palestine Press Services here, said Hussein is trying to force loyalty from West Bank Palestinians. However, Karaeen added, “Our loyalty cannot be bought either by pressure or by money. . . . He will not succeed. This is certain.”

Amman ruled the West Bank of the Jordan River for 19 years after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War that followed the founding of the Jewish state. Israel captured the area in the 1967 Six-Day War and has now occupied it longer than Jordan.