Jordan’s King Abdullah To Go to Washington

Jerusalem is likely to be high on the agenda during the monarch’s visits with US officials but there is no confirmation that he will visit President Joe Biden at the White House

Jordan’s King Abdullah II is expected to make an important working visit to Washington this month but, so far, there is no confirmation that he will visit President Joe Biden at the White House. The visit comes after the two leaders spoke by phone during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as violence in Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound was shaking up the region.

The White House has not confirmed whether there will be a summit with the king.

The visit comes at a time when Jordan wanted to strike an agreement to make some major revisions to coordinating activity in Jerusalem’s Old City and especially at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, including putting the Waqf, Jordan’s religious authority that oversees the site, in charge of all non-Muslim visits to the site. The Hashemite family that rules Jordan is known as the official custodians of Islamic holy places in Jerusalem; it called for lowering the tension at the holy site, known by Jews as the Temple Mount, last month when Islamic, Jewish, and Christian holidays all coincided.

Meanwhile, Jordan’s Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh last week praised Palestinian worshippers at Al-Aqsa who physically attacked Israelis during rioting at the site.

Mohammad Al Momani, a Jordanian senator and former government minister, told The Media Line that the priority of the visit of the king to Washington will be the issue of Jerusalem.

“His Majesty’s visit to the US will no doubt focus on the need for quiet in the holy city of Jerusalem and that all efforts be made to ensure the historic rights of the city according to international law. This will take most of the discussions with the American administration. Everyone wants there to be peace and quiet in Jerusalem,” Momani said.

Jordanian political scientist Taghreed Odeh, Middle Eastern studies program coordinator at the Council on International Educational Exchange program in Amman, told The Media Line that the Palestinian cause will, as always, be the center of discussions.

“His Majesty’s upcoming visit to Washington comes at a time of an escalation by Israel against the stability of the region through the attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Odeh says. On the eve of the king’s departure for a private stay in the US to be followed by a working visit to Washington, he hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who entrusted the king with following up on his efforts to protect Christian and Muslim sites in Jerusalem to ensure that the status quo and international law are preserved.

On the bilateral level, there is talk about a new memorandum of understanding between the US and Jordan. Momani said that this could be a chance for Jordan to present its challenges, including also with respect to its relations with Syria and Iran. “The US government and Congress are always open to His Majesty, and everyone knows the key role that Jordan plays in the Middle East,” Momani said.

Momani was referring to the current five-year US-Jordan MOU signed in Amman in February 2018 by President Trump’s first secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, with Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi. That MOU called for US aid to Jordan not to dip below $1.25 billion annually. In 2021, it had reached $1.65 billion, and the current plans submitted by the White House to Congress request that $1.45 billion in the combined military and civilian aid be made available to Jordan in the coming financial year.

Mofid Deak, a former US diplomat now living in Jordan, told the Media Line that the second trip for the king since Biden ascended to power in early 2021 “is a continuation of the ongoing dialogue between Jordan and the Biden Administration. This dialogue is focusing on multiple issues, including the rising tensions in the occupied territories, things that Washington can do to help Jordan navigate an ever-difficult relationship with its Western neighbor [Israel], regional issues, especially the future relations with Syria, and the latter country’s attempts to come out of its isolation regionally and internationally. But the most critical theme of the king’s talks in Washington, in my view, will be to ensure Jordan’s stability, both politically and economically, in addition to deepening the thriving security relationship between Washington and Amman.”

The last time the two leaders met in person was in July 2021. At the time, a Jordanian security court had sentenced the former chief of the royal court, Bassem Awadallah, to a 15-year jail term on the accusation of sedition against the kingdom. Awadallah has Saudi and US, as well as Jordanian, citizenship. Prince Hamzeh, the former crown prince who was the main target of the unhappiness of the palace, unilaterally gave up the title of prince and his mother, the former Queen Noor, called him in a recent tweet “Sharif Hamzeh.”

It is not clear if the sedition case or the media leaks about the king’s properties and bank accounts will have any effect on the discussions during the king’s visit to Washington.