A journalist specialising in Arab affairs has said that the situation in Jordan is on the verge of exploding. Smadar Perry, who writes for Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, noted that foreign intelligence services are helping their Jordanian colleagues in their efforts to prevent any civil unrest.
The Americans are known to be keen not to abandon the Jordanian monarch, King Abdullah; they have based their judgement on lessons learnt from the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt.
According to Perry, the decision-makers in Tel Aviv should not distance themselves from Jordan because both governments agree on what they perceive to be threats. She pointed out that security cooperation should not be affected by the King’s occasional and apparently aggressive statements towards Israel.
“In the coming days, Jordanians will elect a new parliament, and the street is nervous,” she said. “The palace is fortunate that the opposition is divided; on one hand the blind support of the Bedouin has been smashed, while on the other hand the Islamists want to reduce the power of the king.” The Bedouins, she added, have dared to make unprecedented criticism of the king, but they are in turn afraid of Palestinian domination.