Jordanian King Abdullah II. Photo: Reuters / Kayhan Ozer / Pool.

Faisal al-Fayez, chairman of the Jordanian Senate, recently issued a statement on what is necessary to achieve a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: “There must be pressure on Israel by the superpowers, including the United States.”

He also said that it is up to the Palestinians to decide what is acceptable in any deal: “If the Palestinians accept the solution, we will accept the solution, and if they do not accept it, we will not accept it.”

His statements on Jerusalem, however, seem at odds with the official Palestinian position. While Palestinian leaders insist that there can be no peace without them being in control of every inch of the territory that Jordan illegally annexed in 1949, Jordan seems to want to maintain some control over that area itself.

Al-Fayez stressed, “The king cannot give up Jerusalem. The subject of Hashemite tutelage is very important, there is a spiritual relationship between the Hashemite kings and Jerusalem.”

At no point did al-Fayez say that Jerusalem must be the Palestinian capital. Moreover, he seems to be insisting that Jordan maintain control over (at least) the religious sites in Jerusalem, even if Palestinians gain it as their capital. This means that Jordan does not intend for Palestinians to have complete control over “East Jerusalem” in any peace deal.

Any sovereign state would be insulted at the idea of another country controlling part of its capital, but Jordan seems to be insisting on having some control over Jerusalem, even under Palestinian sovereignty. Al-Fayez is contradicting himself by saying on the one hand that Jordan will accept whatever solution the Palestinians accept, and then saying that Jordan must maintain some control over Jerusalem.

This is a fundamental disagreement between the Palestinian leadership’s public statements and Jordan’s official position. The common denominator is that all Arabs agree that Jews must not have any control over the city that has been the central part of Jewish spirituality and identity for some 3,000 years. Everything else is mere details.

Elder of Ziyon has been blogging about Israel and the Arab world for a really long time now. He also controls the world, but deep down, you already knew that.