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Key Player Worries About Mideast Drive to Build Ties With Israel

Dale Gavlak

   AMMAN, JORDAN - U.S. officials say Washington would like to see more
   Arab and Muslim countries follow the United Arab Emirates' lead in
   normalizing relations with Israel. It looks to Oman, Bahrain and Sudan
   as possible candidates. But Israel's peace partner and staunch
   Palestinian supporter, Jordan, worries that the Israel-UAE deal will
   scuttle the two-state solution and it could possibly be one of the
   biggest losers, if the land-for-peace option is abandoned.

   Jordanian analyst Osama Al Sharif, writing on the Al-Monitor website,
   says Jordan's longstanding political approach to resolving the
   Palestinian-Israeli conflict could become "a minority position."

   Regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia stands with Jordan and upholds the
   2002 Arab Peace Initiative put forward to Israel. It calls for
   normalized ties in exchange for Israel's full withdrawal from occupied
   lands, a just settlement for Palestinian refugees and a Palestinian
   state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

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