Jordan and Peace Pact With Israel

* In “Why Jordan Will Be Next to Make a Deal With Israel” (Commentary, Feb. 13), Yossi Melman states all but the right reasons for why Jordan is seeking peace with Israel.

Melman, in a conspiratorial tone, describes secret meetings and dealings between King Hussein and Israeli leaders over the last three decades. He goes further to attribute to King Hussein a fabricated admission to a group of American Jewish leaders in Washington that he has “met with all the Israeli prime ministers but Begin.” If Melman’s sources were so authoritative, perhaps he would have also known that in response to a similar question that he had warned the Israelis about an imminent Syrian-Egyptian attack in 1973, King Hussein flatly denied any such contacts with these exact words: “When the war of 1973 occurred we were not informed. It was kept from us. It took me totally by surprise. You know that and the world knows that. . . . That is totally untrue.”

Regarding Jordan’s position on the West Bank, Melman should be reminded that in severing legal and administrative ties with the West Bank in 1988, Jordan was responding to PLO wishes and in line with a longstanding recognition and support for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. And it is in that same spirit that Jordan is pursuing peace today. The creation of a Palestinian state is a desirable outcome that Jordan has supported. As for the future Jordanian-Palestinian relations, King Hussein has stated repeatedly that the issue of confederation, which Melman describes as “the ideal solution” for Jordan, should be deferred until such time that the two peoples can decide on it.

Finally, King Hussein has indeed affirmed recently his willingness to meet publicly with Prime Minister Rabin, only at the right time and in the proper context. As to the possibility of Jordan signing a peace treaty with Israel, that will only take place after the outstanding issues on the common agenda are resolved in a satisfactory manner and in the context of a comprehensive peace settlement.

MARWAN MUASHER

Director, Jordan Information Bureau

Washington