Israel and Jordan Agree to Joint ‘Warm Peace’ Projects

Israel and Jordan, consolidating what President Clinton called a “warm peace” between former enemies, announced on Monday joint economic and environmental projects intended to give their citizens a tangible dividend from the end of 46 years of hostility.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Jordan’s Crown Prince Hassan completed work on the measures in a meeting at the White House with Clinton and other U.S. officials.

“If we succeed in our endeavors, and I do believe we shall, it will serve as a model for many other places,” Peres told reporters with Hassan and Clinton at his side. “We are going to take parts of the desert and convert it into valleys of peace, of agriculture, of tourism.”

The new projects, under consideration since Israel and Jordan ended their formal state of war in July, are designed to speed the economic and commercial development of the Jordan Rift Valley, a largely desert region centered on the Dead Sea and straddling the border between the two countries.

Peres and Hassan also agreed to open a second border crossing in the north of the two countries, establish a free-trade zone between the southern cities of Eilat and Aqaba, create a Red Sea Marine Peace Park and begin feasibility studies of dams on the Yarmuk and Jordan rivers to alleviate the region’s chronic water shortage.

Clinton said the measures “are solid evidence that Jordan and Israel have not only ended their state of war but are following through on their commitment to cooperate with each other and negotiate as rapidly as possible a final peace treaty. The steps we announce today are the building blocks of a modern peace between these ancient lands.”

Israeli and Jordanian officials said they hope to complete negotiations on a formal peace treaty by the year’s end. Meantime, the two countries are creating a warmer relationship than exists between many states that have been at peace for generations, they said.

State Department officials said Secretary of State Warren Christopher will visit the Middle East starting this weekend to resume his shuttle mediation between Israel and Syria. In advance of that trip, Clinton plans to meet Friday at the White House with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Shareh.

U.S. officials said Israel and Syria are inching toward a peace agreement, though officials of the two nations have not met face-to-face for months. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Syrian President Hafez Assad are communicating through American go-betweens.

Before returning to Washington, Christopher plans to attend ceremonies marking the northern border crossing between Israel and Jordan. The first crossing between the two countries linking Eilat and Aqaba was opened in August. Until the completion of a final peace treaty, the border is open only to citizens of third countries.

In Jerusalem, Rabin predicted Israel and Jordan will complete a peace treaty “shortly, even before the end of the year.” But in a speech to the opening session of the Israeli Parliament, Rabin said Israel and Syria are still far apart in their separate negotiations.

He said the remaining issues in the Israel-Jordan talks are border demarcation, water and security.