The separation in 1921 by mandatory Britain of the east bank of the Jordan River from the area from the river to the Mediterranean did not eradicate longstanding communal allegiances, which continue to surface and evolve according to political developments. Over the years there has been a very wide range in the various positions on the Jordanian-Palestinian connection, from Jordan’s annexation of the West Bank in 1950, which remained under the control of the Arab Legion after the war in 1948, until the complete break of 1988. Nonetheless, Jordan’s interest in events on the western side of the Jordan River continues, particularly in connection to Jerusalem. Jordan’s demographic reality – more than half of Jordan’s citizens are of Palestinian origin – in itself creates a need for Jordanian involvement. However, the issue of Jerusalem gives the Hashemite Kingdom a special status in the Arab world, although not on the same level as the status Saudi Arabia enjoys by virtue of its control of Mecca and Kaaba.

Jordan expressed its practical interest in Jerusalem in two main documents. Article 9 of the 1994 peace treaty between Jordan and Israel states: “Israel respects the present special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Muslim Holy shrines in Jerusalem. When negotiations on the permanent status will take place, Israel will give high priority to the Jordanian historic role in these shrines.” A Jordanian-Palestinian parallel of sorts can be found in the agreement signed on March 31, 2013 between King Abdullah II as “the Custodian of the holy sites in Jerusalem” (without distinction between Muslims and Christians) and Mahmoud Abbas as “president of the State of Palestine.” According to Article 2 of the agreement, the Jordanian king affirms “that all Muslims, now and forever, may travel to and from the Islamic holy sites and worship there” (in the agreement, there is no such promise given to Christians). The King will “administer the Islamic holy sites and…maintain them” and will “represent the interests of the holy sites in relevant international forums.” He will also “oversee and manage the institution of Waqf in Jerusalem and its properties in accordance with the laws of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.” This agreement likewise provided Palestinian affirmation of Jordan’s claim that its guardianship of the holy places in Jerusalem is based on a Palestinian appeal from 1924 (Haj Amin al-Husseini and then-Jerusalem mayor Raghib Nashashibi to Sharif Hussein, father of King Abdullah I).

In recent months, tempers have flared on a number of issues on the Israeli-Jordanian leg of the triangle, first and foremost on Jerusalem. The discussion has been conducted on the parliamentary level: Jordanian members of parliament called for a freeze on the peace treaty between the two countries and the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador (after a Jordanian citizen was killed at the Allenby Bridge), and MK Moshe Feiglin initiated a discussion on Israeli sovereignty over the Temple Mount. In both cases, in Jordan and in Israel, the political leadership acted to end the discussions without decisions that could have caused serious political damage.

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