Last week, a new Jordanian government was sworn in, with Bisher Khasawneh as the new prime minister. Pinḥas Inbari explains the regional implications:
Khasawneh, who was most recently the king’s political adviser, has reportedly held extensive talks with the Saudi crown prince Mohammad bin Salman over the past six months and was scheduled to meet with Abu Dhabi’s crown prince. It was also reported that he has a very close connection to Jared Kushner, President Trump’s Middle East Peace Plan architect, as well as special ties to Egypt’s President Sisi. The implication: the new government could be an integral part of the Trump Peace Initiative. Until now, Jordan was reluctant or even hostile to Trump’s plan and worked to improve its relations with the Palestinian Authority, emphasizing the coordination with the Palestinians on issues related to Jerusalem.
In presenting his government, Prime Minister Khasawneh laid out twelve planks of its platform. The Palestinian issue and the “Hashemite Custodianship of Jerusalem’s Islamic and Christian holy sites” were only the eleventh item. His message was that Jordan now prefers economic programs to “enhance economic resilience and combating poverty and unemployment” over “political activism.”
Such statements suggest that Amman may wish to put aside rivalries with Riyadh regarding authority over the al-Aqsa mosque and the Israel-Palestinian conflict in order to pursue security and economic cooperation with American support. That, in turn, would bode well for Israel.
Read more on Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs: https://jcpa.org/jordans-new-government-indicates-a-change-in-emphasis/