Op-Ed: Jordan sits out the Negev Forum with Washington’s tacit approval

This article originally appeared in Times of Israel on February 19, 2023

There was a glaring absence from last month’s meeting of the Negev Forum in Abu Dhabi. While officials from the US, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Bahrain, and Morocco came together to discuss regional integration, Jordan was the only Middle East nation with diplomatic relations with Israel that did not attend.

Jordan missed out on a series of meetings between Israel and regional partners – signatories of the Abraham Accords and legacy partner Egypt – on issues ranging from healthcare to environment to defense. More striking than Jordan’s absence was its justification for skipping the regional meeting – that the Palestinians were not represented there.

The Biden Administration probably could have secured Jordanian participation in the Negev Forum had it chosen to promote the Abraham Accords more emphatically and had it not so consistently prioritized carrying water for the Palestinian Authority.

Read full op-ed in Times of Israel