Peloni: What goes unspoken in this article is the impossibility which faces the colonialist Hashemite regime. Not only is it their policy to radicalize their people against Israel, but that policy is entirely tied to the Hashemite’s regime’s own survival. As the most recent member of a line of usurping overlords, Abdullah has greater interest in seeing to it that the Jordanian people remain fixated on their hatred of their Israeli neighbors. By doing so he prevents attention being focused on the domestic subjugation of the Jordanians by an illegitimate monarch, who has little affection for his people and has over the years gained himself no respect in return. In this light, it becomes clear why Abdullah’s wife began the latest of her outrageous blood libels against Israel just 3 days before October 7, curiously enough, and has since attempted to deny the well documented mass sexual assaults which took place that day, later describing these acts of savagery and barbarism as resistance instead of the horrors which they certainly were. What is more, the continued support for radicalism in Jordan likewise persists towards this purpose of spreading and maintaining radicalism among the Jordanian people so as to keep their coordination with the monarchy in place. Radicalism and Jew Hatred are a key policy solution to Abdullah’s domestic difficulties, making it near impossible for him to resist the attempt to rile the Jordanian masses on any point possible against Israel, including the Border Fence which is intended to keep the Jew Hating Muslim Brotherhood proponents out of Israel.
Ahmad Sharawi | Dec 12, 2025
Meeting at White House Feb 11, 2025. Photo by The White House – X.com, Public Domain, Wikipedia
Israel’s longest and most porous border, shared with Jordan, has been the scene of smuggling and multiple infiltrations. Iran and its proxies have led much of the activity to funnel materiel to Palestinian terrorist groups in the West Bank. In response, Israel has begun constructing a security barrier that will cover the entire 264 miles of the border, passing along the West Bank border with Jordan, according to the Israeli Defense Ministry. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had already announced the establishment of an eastern division to protect its frontier with Jordan in October 2024.
These moves could significantly reduce the flow of weapons along the border, but questions remain about how effective such a barrier can be. The border’s length and difficult terrain, as well as the previous successes of smuggling networks adapting to obstacles — such as using drones to carry light weapons across the border — make it difficult. The new barrier will likely place additional strain on Jerusalem’s cold relationship with Amman, currently at a historic low point, despite robust security cooperation.
Jordan Is a Critical Corridor for Arms Smuggling Into the West Bank
Since 2020, Israeli and Jordanian authorities have intercepted more than 1,000 firearms destined for Iran’s proxies in the West Bank and for criminal networks inside Israel. Still, many weapons successfully cross the border. There have also been infiltration attempts from the Jordanian side into Israel. In October 2024, two Jordanians crossed into Israel south of the Dead Sea and attacked two Israeli soldiers, wounding both before the IDF killed the two terrorists. The Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood later claimed that the two were affiliated with the organization.
Most smuggling operations are not carried out by members of Iran’s proxy networks themselves. The weapons are transported from either Syria or Iraq and handed over to seasoned Palestinian and Jordanian arms traffickers who know the border well. Given its length, there are numerous dead zones that lack adequate monitoring. Constructing a barrier could help address this vulnerability.
Jordanian’s Cold Relationship With Israel
Since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks from Gaza, Jordanian officials have been overtly critical of Israel. In its initial statement on October 7, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry called for a “halt to the escalation.” The statement avoided any explicit condemnation of Hamas or its atrocities. The government’s rhetoric has helped anti-Israel groups like the Muslim Brotherhood to exploit the public’s frustrations with the Gaza War, inciting support for Hamas and its slain leaders throughout the war. The Jordanian government has allowed these groups space to express their views and has refrained from cracking down on their rhetoric, fearing domestic unrest and the perception that it is opposing an issue with broad popular support.
Growing extremism threatens Jordan’s otherwise strong security partnership with Israel, the value of which was evident during Iran’s attacks on Israel. Jordan allowed Israeli jets to enter its airspace and intercept many of Iran’s projectiles. But the Jordanian government is clearly feeling pressure to mirror the public’s negative sentiments toward Israel, and the border fence may become another target of this dynamic. Jordanian officials routinely worry that any overt cooperation with Israel could brand the government as collaborators with Jerusalem.
Israel and Jordan Must Balance Political Friction With Security Coordination
Both countries recognize Iran as a significant threat to the region’s stability. It’s imperative that Jordan understand that weapons flowing into the West Bank will also have adverse impacts on Jordan’s national security. Iran has always had ambitions of increasing its influence in the Jordan with the aim of destabilizing the monarchy. Tehran also sees Jordan as a conduit to increase its pressure on Israel. Despite the domestic challenges for Jordan, it is essential that the United States emphasize to the Jordanians the centrality of the security relationship with Israel as a counter to Iran’s ambitions, and advise Jordan not to politicize the border barrier by portraying it as a land grab to avoid a rhetoric that can be exploited by radical groups to rile up the population.
Ahmad Sharawi is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Ahmad and FDD, please subscribe?HERE. Follow Ahmad on X?@AhmadA_Sharawi. Follow FDD on X?@FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
Jordan has been just as reliable as Egypt. We cannot talk about a cool relationship or peace; there is none. The only thing we really have is a piece of paper, just like we have with Arafat, which none of the Palestinians really acknowledge. Indeed, it was told of Arafat that he went to appear at the Arab League meeting and told them, in Arabic of course, that the agreement was nothing more than a Hudna. The rest of the world chose to ignore this statement and depend on the signature and handshakes all around.
However, pieces of paper have been shown to lack substance when put to the test; for example, Obama refused to acknowledge the agreements signed by his predecessor when called on them. It seems that the only thing you can trust is possession of land. Everybody wants a chunk of Jerusalem from the pope on down but as long as we have it, they can only complain. Grabbing it has been tried often enough like the UNRWA recently after officially being denied access with plenty of warning. Same thing with the Golan Heights, not to speak of every hovel, departed Arabs demand to return to.