breaking peace treaty 30 years ago. The two had already cooperated discreetly on issues of strategic importance for decades up to that point. But, it was progress toward Israeli-Palestinian peace — the 1993 Oslo Accords between Israel and the PLO — that enabled their ties to become public and formal.
Israel and Jordan have maintained diplomatic relations, strategic coordination, and even some economic cooperation ever since, but this bilateral peace remained “cold.” It did not lead to much interaction between their peoples and societies. And this bilateral concord faced growing challenges as Israel’s politics shifted more to the right and as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict intensified. Still, though Jordan recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv last year over Israel’s conduct in the Gaza war and halted joint endeavors, the two countries have continued to work together on water, natural gas, regional security, and humanitarian aid to Gaza.
As the wars in the region rage on, can Israeli-Jordanian relations be revamped, fulfill their potential, and turn “warm?” Can they contribute to Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking and to a more integrated Middle East? What does the future hold for the bilateral relationship? Please join us for a Middle East Institute webinar that will convene leading Israeli and Jordanian experts and former officials who will discuss these questions and more, assess the current state of bilateral affairs, and share insights generated by MEI’s ongoing Israel-Jordan policy dialogue.
Speakers
Smadar Perry
Senior Middle East Editor, Yediot Ahronot
Ambassador Omar Rifai
Former Jordanian Ambassador to Israel; Executive Board Member, The Council for Mediterranean Diplomacy
Colonel Ron Shatzberg
Co-Executive Director, Economic Cooperation Foundation
Yana Abu Taleb
Jordan Director, EcoPeace Middle East
Nimrod Goren
Senior Fellow for Israeli Affairs, Middle East Institute
Extended Speaker Biographies
Smadar Perry is the senior editor for Middle East affairs and the Arab world at one of Israel's leading daily newspapers, Yediot Aharonot. Her writings cover Middle East affairs, the peace process, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and social, economic, and cultural events in the Muslim world. For decades, Perry follows Israel-Jordan relations closely, and has also interviewed the King of Jordan for the Israeli media. She was a reporter for Al HaMishmar newspaper and worked for Israel Television. She holds an M.A. in Middle Eastern history and Arabic language and literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Amb. (ret.) Omar Rifai is a Co-Founder of Diplomeds – The Council for Mediterranean Diplomacy and a member of its Executive Board. He is a retired Jordanian ambassafor, who joined his country’s diplomatic service in 1975, and who held ambassadorial positions in Israel, Italy and Egypt, where he was also his country’s Permanent Representative to the Arab League. Rifai also served as Secretary General of the Jordanian Foreign Ministry, President of the Jordan Institute of Diplomacy, Director of the Arab Affairs Division of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and a member of the Jordanian delegation to the Jordan-Israel peace talks in 1994. He is a graduate of Harvard and Georgetown Universities.
Col. (res.) Ron Shatzberg is co-Executive Director of the Economic Cooperation Foundation (ECF). In his current capacity he deals with regional security, border regime, Jerusalem, and cross-border cooperation strategies, as well as with Jordan-Israel relations. Ron holds a B.A. in Journalism and Political Science, and an M.A. in Conflict Resolution, both from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. For 11 years, Shatzberg was an adviser for the International Community of the Red Cross on International Humanitarian Law and Laws of Armed Conflict with respect to their relations with the Israel Defense Forces. He is an IDF Colonel (res.), and in his last position served as Chief of Staff of an Infantry Brigade.
Yana Abu Taleb is the Jordan Director of EcoPeace Middle East. Yana leads EcoPeace activities concerning the Jordan River, Dead Sea, and our Good Water Neighbors and Water Energy Nexus projects. Yana supervises international project development, liaising with and lobbying government and private sector figures and organizations on regional policy issues related to environmental protection and transboundary water. She is very involved in facilitating and promoting national and regional dialogue to advance policy processes needed for sustaining peace.
Dr. Nimrod Goren is the Senior Fellow for Israeli Affairs at the Middle East Institute, President and Founder of Mitvim - The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, and Executive Board Member at Diplomeds - The Council for Mediterranean Diplomacy. Goren holds a Ph.D. in Middle Eastern Studies from the Hebrew University and was a Hubert Humphrey Fellow at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School. He was a Teaching Fellow on Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University, and worked at the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace and the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies. Goren is a recipient of the Victor J. Goldberg Prize for Peace in the Middle East and the Centennial Medal of the Institute of International Education, and is a member of the International Dialogue Initiative.
(Photo by Paul J. RICHARDS / AFP)