In order to avoid a deterioration in its strategic relations with Jordan and at the request of the Hashemite monarchy, Israel has released Jordanian lawmaker Imad al-Adwan, who was arrested two weeks ago at the Allenby border crossing after finding more than 200 pistols in his car. and rifles destined for the West Bank. At the same time, the Parliament in Amman has withdrawn the immunity of Adwan who, along with other suspects, will be investigated and tried in Jordan for smuggling.
Israel’s decision to hand over Jordan is the result of discreet contacts so that this case does not affect the relationship between two countries that, despite the ups and downs caused above all by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, maintain the peace agreement signed in 1994.” Strategic relations, especially in the field of security, are more important than this matter,” Israeli sources explain after the deputy’s handover to the Jordanian authorities despite serious suspicions.
After his arrest, revealed by the Jordanian media that initially reported the discovery of weapons and gold bars in the vehicle, sources from Israeli security agencies did not rule out the current outcome of a case that they defined as “very serious.” First, because it is the largest smuggling in this Israeli-Jordanian border crossing in recent years, including 194 pistols and twelve rifles. Second, because of the identity of his protagonist: a deputy who wanted to take advantage of his position to try to commit a crime after having done so several times in the past, according to new revelations.
The Israeli internal security service (Shabak) questioned Al Adwan to find out, for example, who was the recipient of the weapons in the West Bank. All suspicions pointed to the Islamist group Hamas or another militia in the territory occupied by Israel in Jordan in the 1967 war, although now it is not ruled out that common criminals were the ones who asked for their weapons. In any case, once they reach the West Bank, the weapons end up in the hands of whoever can pay for them regardless of their purpose.
Shabak reveals this Sunday that since February 2022 the Jordanian legislator took advantage of his diplomatic passport 12 times to illegally introduce gold bars, electronic cigarettes and birds. In recent months, Adwan has also carried out arms smuggling, receiving “large sums of money” in return. Beyond the clear economic motivation, since his arrest, his words in recent years in favor of the armed wing of Hamas, responsible for numerous attacks, and against what he defines as an “entity Zionist”.
Israel kept the case on a low profile – including Netanyahu’s absolute silence in force even today – which was only broken by a few words from Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, exempting Jordan from any responsibility for focusing all criticism on the Jordanian lawmaker. : “This is a serious matter that is being investigated by security officials. It involves the smuggling of a large number of weapons and is a criminal act.” Cohen added that in his opinion he should be brought to justice without ruling out that it could also be in Jordan. The fact that he did not accuse the Jordanian authorities or the legislator of “assistance to terrorism”, emphasizing the criminal and economic aspects, helped the pact between the two countries to seal the case.
The speaker of the Jordanian Parliament, Ahmed Safadi, has confirmed that his legislator will not enjoy diplomatic immunity while security forces arrested several suspects linked to the case. According to the official Jordanian news agency Petra, the decision to withdraw Adwan’s immunity “is based on the investigations conducted by the official Jordanian authorities and the evidence against him and his confessions to trading and smuggling firearms on several occasions together with with the deputy. And he adds that the contraband also consisted of other materials such as gold and electronic cigarettes. The case passes to the responsibility of the General Prosecutor of the Security Court in Jordan.
According to Safadi, Adwan’s release is “the result of the efforts” of King Abdullah II and Jordanian diplomacy.
After his return to power more than four months ago, Netanyahu has tried to improve the terrible relations he had in the past with King Abdullah II and, incidentally, calm his fears before the most right-wing coalition in the history of Israel.
In January, the veteran Israeli leader met with the Hashemite monarch in Jordan to discuss regional (basically Iran) and bilateral issues and above all the always sensitive issue of the Noble Sanctuary (Islam) or Temple Mount (Judaism) in Jerusalem. At the beginning of April, the tension surrounding this factor, as sacred as it was explosive, was the trigger for a deterioration in relations. The violent clashes between Israeli policemen and hundreds of Palestinians in the Al Aqsa Mosque on a night in the middle of the month of Ramadan provoked widespread condemnation from Arab countries led by Jordan. “Israel is pushing us into the abyss of violence and undermining the peace treaty with Jordan,” denounced Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Al Safadi at the time, recalling his country’s role as custodian of the sanctuary and represented in the Islamic entity that administers the Esplanade of the Mosques (Wakf).
In the case of the deputy suspected of smuggling, however, Jordan opted for the discreet line and agreed with Israel on the one hand accusing him and on the other concluding that it is a criminal case.
The delivery of the deputy to Jordan has deepened the discontent of the ultranationalist party led by Itamar Ben Gvir and a member of the Netanyahu government. “The decision to release the terrorist who tried to bring hundreds of weapons here to be used in attacks and criminal acts in the heart of Israel is a strategic and ethical error,” denounced Ben Gvir, who criticized not being called to the restricted security forums. Likewise, he demands that the government “cease its policy of condescension and weakness towards Gaza, the Jordanians, the Lebanese and any terrorist who seeks to attack Israeli citizens.” Regardless of this case and as a sign of protest at the “lazy response to the (projectile) attacks from Gaza” and to demand the government “make a genuine right-wing policy”, Ben Gvir did not attend the weekly meeting of the Executive this Sunday in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu’s decision on the Jordanian legislator widens the gap -for now only rhetoric- with a party from his coalition but avoids the possibility of opening another with Jordan.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
