This ceremony, which took place at Wadi Araba in Jordan, represented a milestone in Jordan’s long and difficult quest for peace. After the Madrid Peace Conference of October 1991, in which Jordan extended an “umbrella” to the Palestinian delegation, and the September 13, 1993 signing of the Declaration of Principles (Oslo I) between the PLO and Israel, the road was opened for Jordan to proceed on its own negotiating track with Israel. On September 14, 1993, Jordan and Israel signed the Common Agenda for negotiations, and Jordan formally separated from the Palestinian negotiating delegation. On July 25, 1994, King Hussein and Israeli Prime Minister Rabin met in the White House to sign the Washington Declaration, formally ending the state of war between the Jordan and Israel. On August 8 of the same year, Crown Prince El Hassan and Israeli Prime Minister Rabin inaugurated the first border crossing between Jordan and Israel, north of Aqaba, and a trilateral Jordanian-American-Israeli meeting took place at King Hussein’s palace in Aqaba. This marked the first visit by an Israeli prime minister to Jordan. On October 17, 1994, a marathon round of negotiations led by King Hussein and Prime Minister Rabin culminated with the announcement of the imminent signing of a Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty.

The Treaty of Peace between Jordan and Israel marks the realization of His Majesty’s cherished goal of a just peace between the two states, as well as a major step toward a comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East.

Address at the Signing of the Jordan-Israel Treaty of Peace

Wadi Araba, Jordan

October 26, 1994

Peace be upon you all. God's peace. The greeting with which Muslims and Arabs receive their guests, exchange amongst each other, the greeting that has been taken to every part of the world of our long and cherished history and past.

It is with a sense of enormous pride, a sense of fulfillment, that I stand here before you today—together with President Clinton, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, President Weizman, and all our distinguished colleagues and friends. An unusual day. A day like no other in terms of the hopes, in terms of the promise, and in terms of the determination, God willing, and with God's blessing, of us all to remember this day as long as we live and for future generations—Jordanians, Israelis, Arabs, Palestinians—all Children of Abraham, to remember it as the dawning of the new era of peace. Mutual respect between us all, tolerance, and the coming together of people, of generations to come beyond this time, to build and achieve what is worthy of them.

We will always cherish the memory and honor of all those who have fallen over the years from amongst all of our peoples. I believe they are with us on this occasion and at this time, as we come together to ensure—God willing—that there will be no more death, no more misery, no more suspicion, no more fear, no more uncertainty of what each day might bring—as has been the case in the past.

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and I had the honor of signing the Washington Declaration with President Clinton—our partner and our friend. And we took it upon us—Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and myself—to shepherd the process of negotiations to a successful conclusion. I believe that both of us share in this moment of achievement and pride and relief—for, hopefully, we have contributed towards a better future for our peoples for all times to come.

The Prime Minister of Israel and the Prime Minister of Jordan will shortly ratify the peace treaty between our two countries. This will be witnessed by President Clinton. In a matter of days, we will have completed in Jordan the passage of this peace treaty through the legislature. I, who have accompanied my colleagues throughout this process;

Prime Minister Majali, since Madrid; my brother Prince Hassan, and every Jordanian who has been involved and honored to be involved in this peace process fully support every word and every letter in this peace process between Jordan and Israel.

I know it is supported by the overwhelming majority of our people. We've learned today of its passage through the Israeli Knesset by an overwhelming majority. These are the moments in which we live. The past and the future. This great valley in which we stand will become the valley of peace.

And when we come together to build it and to make it bloom as never before, when we come to live next to each other as never before, we will be doing so Israelis and Jordanians together—without the need for any to observe our actions or supervise our endeavors. This is peace with dignity. This is peace with commitment. This is our gift to our peoples and the generations to come.

It will herald the change in the quality of life of people. It will not be simply a piece of paper ratified by those responsible, blessed by the world. It will be real, as we open our hearts and minds to each other, as we discover a human face to everything that has happened and to each other—for all of us have suffered for far too long.

President Clinton, you have been our partner. You have been our friend. You have given us your support, together with the administration of the United States of America. You were at the helm during this historic moment. I will always remember the warmth of your welcome to us both in Washington, and the warmth of the welcome of the people of the United States of America with which they received our news and lauded our achievements. No one will ever forget this day and, in particular, they will always remember the fact that you, personally, came to be with us here on this most happy of occasions, at the end of a chapter of darkness and the opening of a book of light. Ever proud of our friendship. God bless you and give you every future success—and maybe, the world needs some good examples of what should happen between people. And hopefully, this might herald similar progress—not only on all the tracks here in this region, because we are all committed to recognize the peace; we wish it, and hopefully it will be—but throughout the world, the world that is the home of all of us; that, in itself, is so small, but so much needs to be addressed and met for humanity and for the future.

Behind us here, you see Eilat and Aqaba, the way we have lived over the years in such close proximity, unable to meet, to visit each other, to develop this beautiful part of the world. No more—as we look into the future beyond this point with determination, with hope, with commitment. We survived the hard times that our people beyond this point in time enjoy the good times.

I would like to thank all our friends, all our distinguished guests who join us here today—the representative of President Yeltsin, Prime Minister of Russia, distinguished foreign ministers, our Arab president from our greater Arab homeland, our guests from throughout the world, our friends—and a very hearty welcome to all of you, Jordanians and Israelis alike, at this very precious moment. God bless you all.

Address at the Signing of the Jordan-Israel Treaty of Peace

Wadi Araba, Jordan

October 26, 1994