Israel and Jordan Sign Peace Treaty
The signing ceremony for the peace treaty features a balloon release. (credit: Ya'acov Sa'ar, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0)

October 26, 1994

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Jordanian King Hussein sign a peace treaty at the Wadi Araba border crossing between Eilat, Israel, and Aqaba, Jordan. The treaty with Jordan is Israel’s second with a neighboring Arab state, and the signing is attended by more than 4,500 guests and witnessed by President Bill Clinton.

Going back to the 1930s, Zionist/Israeli and Jordanian leaders held sporadic secret talks. Both countries saw peaceful relations with the other as inherently in their respective national interests.

The agreement between Israel and Jordan settles border disputes, puts in place water-resource-sharing protocols, and calls for cooperation in areas of trade, tourism, and protection and freedom of access to religious and historical places.