A peace treaty forged in the shadow of a massacre

Health · Published 19 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 1994, Jordan became the second Arab nation to sign a peace accord with Israel. It was a monumental shift in Middle Eastern diplomacy, intended to end decades of state-level enmity. Yet, the path to this agreement was paved with secret negotiations, broken promises, and a tragic border incident that tested the limits of personal diplomacy.

The road to the 1994 Wadi Araba Treaty was marked by significant geopolitical maneuvering. In 1987, Shimon Peres and King Hussein attempted a secret deal where Israel would concede the West Bank to Jordan. This collapsed due to opposition from Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir. By 1994, discussions intensified; while Syrian President Hafez al-Assad urged King Hussein only to 'talk' and not sign, U.S. President Bill Clinton pressured the King toward a formal accord, promising debt forgiveness as an incentive.

The treaty, signed on October 26, 1994, in the Arava Valley, established full diplomatic relations, a free trade zone, and a Joint Water Committee. A key provision was the water agreement: Israel committed to providing Jordan with 50,000,000 cubic metres of water annually, while Jordan was granted 75% of the Yarmouk River's water. It also recognized Jordan's special role in Muslim holy shrines in Jerusalem, linking the peace directly to the broader Israeli-Palestinian process.

However, the personal bond between King Hussein and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin faced immediate turmoil. Following Rabin's assassination in 1995, Hussein offered a gesture of solidarity, but his subsequent support for Benjamin Netanyahu backfired. By 1997, the King expressed deep disappointment over the Likud government's actions. The fragility of this new peace was underscored in March 1997, when a Jordanian soldier killed seven Israeli schoolgirls. In a poignant display of personal diplomacy, King Hussein traveled to Beit Shemesh, kneeling before the grieving families to offer condolences and compensation, attempting to preserve the fragile trust built by the treaty.

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