As Arab Spring burns, Jordan’s Abdullah is feeling the heat (Haaretz)

– ” A new dilemma concerning Hamas’ intentions to find a new home for itself outside Damascus has recently been added to the cauldron of Amman’s troubles. Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh has made it clear that the reopening of the Hamas offices in the Jordanian capital is not on the table and that in the meantime there is merely an “opening up” to the Hamas leadership, “with which relations have never been cut off.”

However, when the king himself comes to Ramallah and plays the role of mediator between Israel and the Palestinians at a meeting in Amman – he cannot ignore Hamas’ changed tune, much less when the reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas ripens into the establishment of a national unity government that will demand Arab recognition.

Jordan has not succeeded in leveraging itself into the status of a real mediator, like Egypt, and it is not within its power to influence Israel’s policy; hence the “rapprochement” with Hamas could well give it a diplomatic card it has not held until now.”

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