Two political analysts agreed that Israel will try to practice its usual hobby of political blackmail after the shooting operation at the Allenby border crossing between Jordan and the occupied West Bank, even though the operation was isolated.
Director of the Jerusalem Center for Political Studies, Oraib al-Rantawi, says that the paths of Israeli blackmail will not stop, as there will be escalating calls to settle the Jordan Valley and annex it to Israeli sovereignty, in addition to imposing collective punishment on the people of the West Bank and trade and transportation lines.
Al-Rantawi added – during his interview with the program “Gaza… What’s Next?” – that Israel will try to accelerate the plan of its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Galant to build the “Eastern Philadelphi Corridor” on the Jordanian-Israeli border, and to form an armed division to be deployed along this border.
The Israeli blackmail will not stop here; rather, Israel’s calls to Jordan to do more than the current situation to tighten control over the borders will escalate, according to the spokesman.
He pointed out that Israel is considered an existential threat to Palestine and Jordan, as the latter has publicly said that the displacement of the Palestinians of the West Bank is a declaration of war, referring to the Israeli government’s support for the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the threat to the Hashemite guardianship.
He added that there is an official Israeli policy that expresses hostility towards Jordan and not just towards the Palestinians, while Amman realizes that any scenario that excludes the establishment of a viable Palestinian state will push the Israeli right to resolve the Palestinian issue outside Palestine and at the expense of other countries.
Israeli disability
In turn, academic and expert on Israeli affairs Dr. Muhannad Mustafa says that there is a state of political, security and military impotence in Israel, as any operation – with personal motives and a sense of injustice – is linked to Iran, which highlights the limitations of Tel Aviv’s power.
For months, according to Mustafa, Israel has been trying to extinguish one of the fronts on which it operates, only to be surprised that a second front has erupted with organized or individual operations, stressing that it cannot deal with all threats by using force alone.
He added, “The West Bank front is witnessing individual operations, but Israel is rushing to escape its inability to accuse other parties to cover this up, which proves the failure of the Netanyahu government to provide security for the Israelis.”
He pointed out that the Israeli right is failing to achieve security after it dominated the political scene following the Oslo Accords and the Second Intifada, as it boasted that it was the only one capable of providing security through the policy of “what cannot be solved by force will be solved by more force.”
Reasons for the operation
Regarding the reasons for the shooting at the Allenby crossing, Al-Rantawi says that the operation was individual with a simple weapon and expresses the boiling blood of the Jordanians and not as the Israeli leaders repeat that it was directed by Iran.
He recalled the historical, geographical and kinship ties between Jordanians and Palestinians that affect daily life, and he says they are unparalleled.
He stressed that the Jordanian people have been witnessing tension since October 7, 2023, as Jordanian cities and towns have not stopped demonstrating, holding sit-ins, denouncing, and collecting donations in condemnation of the Israeli war on Gaza and in support of the Palestinian people and their injustice.
On the other hand, Mustafa says that Israel does not think about the causes and roots of the crisis and thinks with a colonial mentality based on more oppression and settlement, adding that Netanyahu’s government is pursuing political and ideological goals, as the Gaza war has become for the settler right.
Commenting on Israel’s intention to reopen land border crossings with Jordan on Monday morning, the expert on Israeli affairs said that closing international crossings indicates Israel’s weakness and that the latter is trying to suggest that everything is under control.
The two guests agreed that there is no chance on the horizon for a ceasefire deal in Gaza and a prisoner exchange, as Israel wants a long-term occupation of the Strip and is looking to prolong the war until the US presidential elections.