Jordan's foreign minister Abdelelah Al-Khatib argued in a Wilson School lecture Friday afternoon that while his country supports Palestine's right to self-determination, neighboring Israel's security is equally important.
The two sides "have to respect each others' right to exist," Al-Khatib told an audience in Dodds Auditorium, which peppered the minister with questions after his speech.
Al-Khatib described Jordan as a country "in the middle of all the crises in the region." He stressed his concern about the Palestinian economy and government, noting that democratically elected Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is a "committed leader" who needs the support of the Arab and international community.
At the same time, Al-Khatib defended the needs of Israeli security repeatedly, stating that he was "not against [the] special and deep" relationship of the United States and Israel.
But Al-Khatib acknowledged criticism from some Arab populations leveled at his government for its perceived lack of action in aiding Palestinian and Lebanese civilians, especially during this past summer's conflict between Israel and Lebanon.
The Jordanian government should respect these sentiments, Al-Khatib said, but it need not "play on emotions of the masses" — a stance which some have argued has distanced top Arab governments from their people.
The question-and-answer session after the foreign minister's speech dealt largely with the recent Israeli-Lebanese war, which Al-Khatib noted resulted in a few billion dollars worth of damage to Lebanon as well as the displacement of one million Lebanese.
But the foreign minister strongly denounced Hezbollah's actions, including the group's capture of two Israeli soldiers, which resulted in a heavy Israeli response. Al-Khatib said the Israeli retaliation was, from Hezbollah's perspective, an "uncalculated escalation."
Al-Khatib acknowledged the "growing radicalization that is benefiting from sentiments of despair and helplessness" in the region, but he saw violence between the two sides in the conflict as a "very bad regression" because there is "no military solution."
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