An agreement between Israel and Jordan on the principles for the re-opening of Jordanian bank branches in the occupied West Bank was reported today to have been reached by a delegation of Arab bankers who visited Amman and a group of Jordanian bankers who came to Jerusalem for the talks.
Two main obstacles to re-opening the bank branches, closed since the June war, apparently were resolved. Jordan reportedly waived insistence on direct control of the branches and Israel has agreed to free deposits of Arabs who fled to Jordan. Details of the agreement are now being worked out with the possibility that the bank branches will resume operations in March. The arrangements reportedly included the return of most of the assets of the branches from Amman where they have been held under Jordanian law. Most of the impounded funds belong to East Jerusalem and West Bank Arabs.
(“Paradoxical and perplexing” was the description given in the London Financial Times today for the situation along the Israeli-Jordanian demarcation line. The paper said “on one hand, there are daily exchanges of fire and on the other hand, there has been a completely unprecedented volume of trade and the movement of tens of thousands of people between the two countries in both directions.” It commented that “while mortars and tanks have been firing, trucks continue to take vegetables to Jordan, former West Bank residents return to their homes under the family reunion scheme and tourists pass in both directions.”)
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
