Volume 30, Number 7 · April 28, 1983
Looking Over Jordan
By Bernard Avishai
Last September President Reagan called for 'self-government by Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza in association with Jordan.' He did not refer to the PLO except to acknowledge its forced 'evacuation' of Beirut. For a while Reagan's proposals seemed to be having some success, notwithstanding Prime Minister Begin's immediate rejection of them. After King Hussein visited Washington in December, he made it clear that he was interested in Reagan's plan, if it could be subject to 'Arab agreement and coordination.' He asked for support from the PLO, and met several times with Yasir Arafat in Amman. State Department officials hinted during the early part of January that the king would enter the 'peace process' by March 1. Hussein himself seemed to accept the deadline: after it, he said in a speech in Amman, 'US leaders have other things to preoccupy them,' an obvious reference to presidential politics. A White House official told me then that he hoped the king would make a bold, dramatic announcement recognizing Israel according to the provisions of UN Resolution 242 and offering to negotiate the future of the West Bank and Gaza directly with Israeli officials.
Feature, 7218 words
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