Jordan’s King Visits Israel to Push Peace

Jordan’s King Abdullah II told Israeli and Palestinian leaders Tuesday that he wants to help break the impasse in their peace talks, but the young monarch’s presence caused barely a ripple in this city that used to celebrate his father’s visits.

Some Israelis went out to watch the king drive along streets closed for security, but most were unimpressed. Yossi Buskila, who runs a sidewalk restaurant, said: “He drove by, he waved, we waved back. No big deal.”

Israeli leaders, too, had little to cheer about, according to one account of the talks. Some were hoping that Abdullah would press Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat to soften his negotiating positions, but the Jordanians seemed unwilling to do that.

Abdullah began his talks in the West Bank city of Ramallah, meeting Arafat. Afterward, Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdul-Ilah Khatib said Jordan backs the main Palestinian demand: a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Jerusalem is the most explosive point in the talks, and Jordan has a direct interest: It is considered the custodian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Another touchy issue, Palestinian refugees, also affects Jordan directly, as 1.5 million refugees and their descendants live in Jordan, making up about a third of the country’s population. Jordan wants a large portion of whatever compensation is offered the refugees.

The Jordanians brought up their interests but did not press specific demands, said an Israeli official who took part in the talks. Insisting on anonymity, he said the Jordanians brought no news of Palestinian flexibility.

Besides the traffic jams because of blocked streets, few Israelis noticed as Abdullah, 38, visited the site where Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995. Rabin and Abdullah’s father, King Hussein, signed a peace treaty in 1994, Israel’s second with an Arab country.

Hussein died in February 1999. In his 4 1/2 decades in power, he won over Israelis with his moderate views and warmth.

In March 1997, after a Jordanian soldier shot and killed seven Israeli schoolgirls at a border site, Hussein came to visit the parents of the victims, kneeling in front of them, taking their hands and offering his condolences, capturing Israeli hearts in the process.

Abdullah has yet to reach that stature here, rankling some with a perceived pro-Palestinian policy. Last week he bluntly told Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak that Jordan would never accept Israeli sovereignty over any of East Jerusalem, captured from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East War.

That echoes Arafat’s policy. Barak has warned that there can be no peace unless the Palestinians soften their demands. Receiving Abdullah in Tel Aviv, Barak said Israel has offered compromises, but he added, “We do not see a parallel approach from the other side that will make an agreement possible.”

Last month, the Jerusalem issue scuttled a two-week summit at Camp David, Md., where Barak and Arafat failed to agree on a framework for a peace treaty.

Israel already allows Muslims to administer their holy sites, and Barak has indicated willingness to concede control of parts of Jerusalem to the Palestinians, but Israel demands overall sovereignty and control of Jewish holy sites.

Israeli President Moshe Katsav added an exclamation point to the dispute by refusing to meet Abdullah unless he came to Jerusalem. Opposition leader Ariel Sharon stayed away from the official welcoming ceremony and charged later that Barak had cheapened the value of Jerusalem by allowing Abdullah to skip the city.