121. Telegram From the Embassy in Jordan to the Department of State1
8507. Subject: Letter to President.
1. There is below text of letter dated October 31 to President from King Hussein which has just been received from palace. King told Ambassador earlier today he was sending letter on eve of Baghdad conference2 and as response to President’s answers3 which he regards as personal communication from President (signed original4 being pouched).
2. Quote: Dear Mr. President,
I wish to thank you for your letters5 which have kept me informed regarding all the recent developments and your thinking thereon. I wish also to take this opportunity to reaffirm our sincere appreciation for the ceaseless efforts that you, Mr. President, and your top officials are devoting in pursuing the goal of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East region.
As I prepare to travel to attend the Arab summit conference in Baghdad. I feel I must communicate to you my thoughts on where we stand and what questions and common responsibilities we face. We are determined in Jordan to press for a positive summit conference. One which would take responsible decisions and keep the doors open for a just settlement of the Middle East conflict. We have been in touch with other Arab countries which are close to us in thoughts and attitude to cooperate in this effort. Allow me to summarize to you our views here regarding the Camp David Agreements and what we regard as a viable basis for future peace efforts. Some of these views were discussed with you and relayed to Mr. Vance6 during his recent visit to Amman. I believe that we should share these views with frankness and openess hoping this would lead to the clarification and understanding necessary to reach positive conclusions.
From the very beginning there were some fundamental questions in our minds regarding the results of the Camp David Agreements. I [Page 412] have always recorded with satisfaction the repeated assurances and statements by the United States Government that what it sought was a comprehensive and just settlement. Despite this, one was led to believe that what emerged from the Camp David meeting was essentially the outline of a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel not connected in any legal or binding way with a comprehensive settlement on other fronts. If such a course is pursued, I fear that this might lead to a more radical polarization in the area leading ultimately to the isolation of Egypt and the causing of a major setback to the peace process on other fronts.
Furthermore, there was a major difference between the two documents which emerged from Camp David regarding the question of the future status of the occupied areas. While the Egyptian-Israeli Accord was explicit on the question of Egyptian sovereignty over Sinai, the future of the West Bank and Gaza had been left open to negotiations. I believe that there was no balance in this, particularly as the document dealing with the West Bank and Gaza was very explicit in its provisions regarding the transitional agreements and the Jordanian role and responsibilities in them. Jordan was invited to participate in arrangements of administrative, legal, military and political character during a “transitional” period before knowing the shape or outline of the future settlement it is invited to conclude. We fear that at the end of the proposed transitional period, the results reached might be totally unacceptable. This particularly in view of the fact that Israel is repeating continuously its categorical claims about the final annexation of Arab Jerusalem, the expansion of the settlements in the occupied areas and the rejection of Arab sovereignty in the occupied Arab lands. Jordan was called upon to participate in security arrangements with Israel and for Israel, against potentially Palestinian subversion. Without any assurances that, as a result of the transitional period, there would be a just Palestinian solution based on self-determination and an end to the occupation. As I indicated to Secretary Vance, we feel in Jordan that the Agreements have not provided clear answers regarding the four main issues of a comprehensive settlement, namely withdrawal and future borders, Palestinian self-determinations, the basis for the solution of the problem of the Palestinian refugees and the future of Jerusalem. I also indicated to him, to your other envoys and repeatedly in public that Jordan will not close any doors which may lead to the termination of the occupation and the emancipation of the people under occupation in the context of a peaceful settlement. Our interest in the cause of peace is genuine and it has for long been a cherished objective of ours. In this spirit we formulated the questions that we addressed to your government for the clarification of the unclear aspects of the Camp David Agreements and the United States positions. I am very grateful that your government responded quickly to these questions and that [Page 413] you found it fit to sign the answers yourself and send them with a special high-level envoy.
The answers to our questions have been most useful in clarifying the issues and explaining your government’s policy. I am afraid, however, that they did not alter the situation in a major way. We still feel, here in Jordan, that we are asked to participate in arrangements with the Israelis in the occupied areas prior to a definite knowledge of the outcome of such arrangements. We also still feel that there are no definite answers to our fundamental concerns, namely the ultimate total Israeli withdrawal, self-determination for the Palestinians and the return of Arab Jerusalem to Arab sovereignty.
Mr. President,
As I suggested to you in an earlier letter, I believe it may be time for a return to a collective context for the peace efforts. In the meantime I have announced that we in Jordan would not impose our views on the people in the occupied areas and would encourage their collective effort to positively seek new avenues for the improvement of their conditions [garble] the development of their national entity. We will give them all our support. I am consulting with other Arab governments in this direction.
In the forthcoming summit conference in Baghdad Jordan will remain, as always, a constructive force and a voice of peace. We have been active in promoting a positive atmosphere for the conference and will pursue this effort in the coming days.
I wish to assure you, finally, that Jordan will struggle to keep the door to peace open. I am hopeful that the impulse of peace in our area is stronger than the calls of war.
With my best wishes and regards. Your sincere friend, Hussein I. End text.
3. Original being pouched to S/S.
- Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, President’s Correspondence with Foreign Leaders File, Box 11, Jordan: King Hussein, 2/77–2/79. Secret; Immediate; Nodis. Printed from a copy that indicates the original was received in the White House Situation Room.↩
- See footnote 7, Document 91.↩
- See footnote 4, Document 91.↩
- A copy of the signed original of the letter is in the Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Middle East, Subject File, Box 56, Jordan: 11/78–6/79.↩
- See Documents 61 and 91.↩
- See Document 64.↩