What to expect from Jordan's King Abdullah’s meeting with Biden - analysis

WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden will host King Abdullah II of Jordan for a private lunch on Thursday, the White House has said.

The king is currently in Washington for a series of meetings. On Wednesday, he met with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, the committee chairman, responded to a question from The Jerusalem Post about the meeting as it ended. It was “an incredibly important meeting, as you can see from the attendance,” said Menendez. “Jordan has bipartisan support in the United States Senate,” he said. “It’s a longstanding relationship and an incredibly important one. We always look forward to his majesty’s insights, not only about our bilateral relationship but in the region.

“I think [it was] incredibly important to hear, and we have a very frank exchange about different issues, obviously from Syria and Lebanon to the challenges with Israel and the Palestinian[s] and the desire to de-escalate the present tensions that exist, which we think are very important as well.”

King Abdullah also met on Tuesday with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. “As speaker, it’s an honor to host my first foreign leader visit – the king of Jordan – at the Capitol,” McCarty tweeted afterward.

“Thank you for your friendship and tireless efforts to bring about peace in the Middle East,” McCarthy added.

Abdullah’s visit comes amid rising tensions in the West Bank and a series of terror attacks.

The king met with Netanyahu last week

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met the king last Tuesday amid tensions between the two countries over the Temple Mount in a surprise visit that was publicized only after its conclusion.

“The two leaders discussed regional issues, especially strategic, security and economic cooperation between Israel and Jordan, which contributes to regional stability,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.

“They also praised the long-standing friendship and partnership between Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom,” the PMO continued. It was the first visit Netanyahu made abroad since he returned to office last month.

Ghaith al-Omari, a senior fellow in The Washington Institute’s Irwin Levy Family Program on the US-Israel Strategic Relationship, said that “there are no specific deliverables expected from the king’s meeting with President Biden.

“Outstanding bilateral issues were already concluded last year, namely the signing of a seven-year MOU according to which the US supports Jordan with a minimum of $1.45 billion a year; and approval of the sale of advanced F-16 Block 70 fighter jets to the kingdom,” he said. “Accordingly, the meeting will discuss general regional and bilateral issues. In particular, the Palestinian-Israeli issue and its impact in Jordanian-Israeli relations will figure high in the meetings. Jordan and the US are both concerned about the deteriorating security situation in the West Bank, particularly as we are approaching another year in which Ramadan and Passover coincide.”

Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen is the director of the Israel, The Palestinian Territories and the Region program at the US Institute of Peace. “There’s a sense of déjà vu with King Abdullah in Washington at a time of rising tension and violent disintegration in the Israeli-Palestinian arena,” she said.

“The ongoing war on Ukraine, Iran developments and the Jordanian economy and reform efforts will undoubtedly be on the agenda. But as was the case when here in May 2022, the king is most likely to seek a strong and publicly reiterated emphasis from President Biden of Jordan’s pivotal and historic role as the custodian of Jerusalem’s holy sites, and the imperative of maintaining that role in preserving the status quo arrangement at the Haram Al Sharif/Temple Mount.”

She went on to say that “we can expect that President Biden and King Abdullah will devote significant time to discussing routes to de-escalation,” and that “concerns over a rapidly deteriorating Israeli-Palestinian situation – a direct threat to Jordanian stability – are that much more acute amid an ongoing economic crisis in the country that has given rise to sizeable protests in recent weeks.”