An Israeli Cabinet minister has added his voice to the growing chorus of government leaders who believe that a peace treaty with Jordan is imminent.
And the Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv, under a banner headline appearing Wednesday, published what it said were the key elements of an Israeli-Jordanian treaty.
Housing Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said Wednesday that an Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty was “wrapped up.”
He said the portion of the treaty dealing with economic matters affecting the two countries would be made public very soon.
Ma’ariv reported that the agreement had been initialed last week by Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Crown Prince Hassan of Jordan.
The agreement, according to Ma’ariv, will establish full diplomatic, trade and tourist relations between the two countries; will include Israeli guarantees to protect Jordanian airspace from hostile attacks; will enable Israel to lease from Jordan disputed tracts of land; and will call for intensive economic cooperation, especially in exploiting the mineral resources of the Dead Sea.
Ma’ariv reported that Peres had negotiated with King Hussein and his brother Prince Hassan on the final points at issue during his visit to Amman on Nov. 2.
Israel Radio said officials at the Prime Minister’s Office and the Foreign Ministry were continuing to work on the details of the treaty in hopes that a summit meeting between Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and King Hussein will take place at the White House during Rabin’s 10-day visit to North America, which begins Thursday.
But other sources here were less optimistic, saying that more time was needed and questioning whether Hussein would sign an agreement with Israel before Rabin could achieve similar progress with Syria.
Israeli-Syrian negotiations have been stalled for months.
In Washington, President Clinton reacted by saying he was not anticipating an imminent breakthrough between Israel and Jordan.
“I am delighted by reports of progress in relationships between Israel and Jordan,” he said during a news conference.
But he added that he did not believe a breakthrough would be announced during Rabin’s visit to the White House on Friday.
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