July 31, 1988
King Hussein of Jordan announces his intention to disengage from the West Bank, leaving the Palestine Liberation Organization to fill the political vacuum. But the king seeks to retain influence over Jerusalem.
In April 1950, against the wishes of the Arab League, King Abdullah I, King Hussein’s grandfather, annexed the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Jordan retained control of these areas until Israel captured them in the June 1967 war. For the next 20 years, Jordan attempted to reacquire the land through secret talks.
One such attempt was the United Arab Kingdom Plan proposed by King Hussein in March 1972. The proposal called for the East and West Banks of the Jordan River to be linked, subject to Palestinian approval. The PLO and Israel immediately rejected the plan, and the rest of the Arab world followed suit. The Arab League in 1974 recognized the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
King Hussein’s speech marks the end of years of tension with the PLO about who should negotiate with Israel over the West Bank’s future and comes amid the organized Palestinian violence known as the First Intifada. The intifada has forced the king to recognize that the Palestinians want their own state, not one administered by Jordan.
Disassociation from the West Bank ensures Jordan’s longevity, as it now focuses exclusively on the East Bank of the Jordan River, and gives Hussein greater freedom to sign a peace treaty with Israel, as he does in October 1994.
