(Gatestone Institute) Khaled Abu Toameh - PA President Mahmoud Abbas says that the Palestinians will not accept any Israeli presence along the border between a future Palestinian state and Jordan. But in a recent closed briefing, a high-ranking Jordanian security official responded: "May God forbid! We have repeatedly made it clear to the Israeli side that we will not agree to the presence of a third party at our border." Their worst nightmare is that once the Palestinians are given control over the border, thousands of them from the future Palestinian state would pour into Jordan, strengthening the Palestinian majority already living there. Israel has its own reasons for refusing to cede control over the strategic Jordan Valley. Israel's main concern is that the border with Jordan will be used by Palestinian terror groups and Islamist fundamentalist organizations to smuggle weapons and terrorists into the West Bank and Israel.
2013-09-20 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive