Jordan - History - Diplomatic and Military Initiatives

Between 1967 and 1970, Jordan employed a dual strategy of political and military initiatives to work for the return of Arab lands lost in the 1967 War. On November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 242, calling on Israel to withdraw from the areas it had occupied in the recent war, and for all countries in the Middle East to respect the rights of others “to live in peace within secure and recognised boundaries.” The formulation and passage of this landmark resolution, which is still the primary reference point for building peace in the Middle East, was in large part the initiative of King Hussein. Jordan accepted the resolution as a basis for negotiation.

In March 1969, King Hussein held talks in Washington with American President Richard Nixon, in which he proposed the renewal of a six-point Arab peace plan along the lines of Resolution 242. The next year, the United States sponsored the so-called Rogers Plan. Although Jordan and Egypt publicly accepted the plan, its rejection by Israel, Syria and the PLO doomed the plan to failure.

While diligently pursuing a peaceful solution to the conflict, King Hussein took the lead in the defense of Arab land with the help of the burgeoning Palestinian fedayeen groups. On March 21, 1968, Israeli forces carried out a major attack on the Jordan Valley village of Karamah, where they began destroying the village homes with dynamite. During the ensuing Battle of Karama, the Jordanian army launched a heavy artillery barrage against the Israeli tanks and the raid was repelled with heavy losses to the invading Israeli troops. King Hussein saluted the Jordanian army and the fedayeen of Fatah, who also took part in the battle, by declaring that “we have reached the point where we are all fedayeen.”