Jordan Not Budging from Boycott of Negev Forum

By Hamodia Staff

YERUSHALAYIM — Jordan will not be sending a delegation to a meeting ahead of the second session of the Negev Forum, sticking to its position that it will not join until or unless the Palestinians are invited to participate as well.

“There’s an empty chair at the table because Jordan obviously has a peace agreement with Israel,” a senior U.S. official told The Times of Israel ahead of a working group set to meet in Abu Dhabi this week.

Jordan will be the only Arab country with full diplomatic relations with Israel that will not be represented where, for the first time, interagency teams known as working groups will be gathering from the U.S., Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Egypt to discuss joint regional projects. The meetings are scheduled for Sunday through Tuesday.

Two Arab diplomats said that the previous Israeli government resisted the idea of including the Palestinian Authority as an equal member of the forum, and the Netanyahu government is not likely to be more inviting.

Still, the senior U.S. official said that the working groups will seek to advance projects that can also help the perennially in-crisis Palestinian economy. “You’ll likely see projects that are not targeted for the Palestinians per se, but broader regional projects that [the Palestinians] will be able to benefit from just like the other countries involved in [the forum].”

The countries that are signed are showing signs of being serious about the venture. State Department Counselor Derek Chollet will be heading a U.S. delegation of roughly 40 officials from the State, Defense, Commerce, Energy and Health departments, along with the Environmental Protection Agency and others.

The Israeli group will number about 20, led by Foreign Ministry director general Alon Ushpiz.

The U.S. and Bahrain will co-chair the working groups on regional security and health; Israel and Morocco will co-chair the working groups on food security and water technology and education and coexistence; and the UAE and Egypt will co-chair the working groups on clean energy and tourism.