Jordan’s King Abdullah who strongly criticized Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza, downs drones wha is widely being considered a show of support for the country.

Iran fired over 300 drones and ballistic missiles at Israel, while the Arab-majority Jordan joined Israel’s allies in intercepting them in a show of support.

The new development, is arguably just as surprising as Iran’s first ever direct attack on Israel, which now sees the two nations on a potential collision course for war.

Show of Support

The ‘show of support’ by Jordan comes in the wake of its strong criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strategy for Israel’s war in Gaza that has already left over 33,000 dead.

The response by King Abdullah II, which in the past has been in unison with pro-Palestine voices, is also trying to avoid plunging his own country into a civil war or as part of a wider regional conflict.

Jordan’s delicate partnership with Israel signifies its weak militarily position and lack of financial resources indicating that it simply cannot risk any type of war with its neighbour, Israel.

In its official statement to the media, Jordan confirmed that it shot down the Iranian drones in an act of self-defence and not to help Israel.

Jordan was among the Arab League nations that invaded the former Palestinian Mandate territory in 1948.

This was in the aftermath of the UN General Assembly resolution which recommended a plan to partition the territory into an Arab state, a Jewish state and the City of Jerusalem.

After the war, Jordan was in control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and formally annexed the territories in 1950.

Almost 20 years later, in 1967, Jordan and Israel were again on opposite sides in the Six Day War and Amman lost control of the West Bank and Jerusalem to Israel.

Peace Treaty Between Nations

Eventually, Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, the second Arab country after Egypt to do so to maintain stability in the region.

The treaty between Israel and Jordan occurred after the 1993 Oslo Accords which saw a peace process between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization led by Yasser Arafat evolve.

With a peace treaty in place between Israel and Jordan this resulted in the opening of their borders.

To this day, the 309-km border Israel shares with Jordan which is its quietest border of all the nation neighbours.

The Israeli military deploys just three battalions on this border, significant reduced forces in a heavily militarized region.

Economic Ties

Jordan’s economy ranks 89th in the world by GDP., while Israel ranks 28th. This is in large part a result of the treaty promoted by the US, it has Qualified Industrial Zones for companies that use Israeli inputs.

These companies can export their products duty-free to the US and have generated 36,000 jobs over the years — a significant development in a country with a population of just over a crore.

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The Muslim Brotherhood which is an Islamic group which is outlawed in Egypt for being considered a terror organization demands that the Jordanian government shut down these zones.

The response from the Jordanian Government is simple and to the heart of the economic ties, they will will not shut down the zones because “they provide jobs”.

Jordan is also among the biggest recipients of aid from US, Israel’s strong ally in the Middle East along with Turkey and Egypt.

All three countries are eager to minimize the impacts of growing instability in the region.

Jordan’s Criticisms

The economic ties, however, have not stopped Amman from speaking out at Israel over its handling of the Gaza war with Hamas.

Israel’s ongoing war on Hamas after the October 7 attacks, have caused a massive humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

King Abdullah has condemned the response of Israel against Hamas as “collective punishment” of Palestinians in Gaza.

Jordan also accused Israel of creating an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe” and recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv.

The king also pushed for a ceasefire in Gaza and appealed to Western leaders to back the cause in stopping the war.

This political position, despite strong trade links, is a delicate balancing act by Amman.

First to stabilize its economic interests with Israel and second its own interests to appease the demands of its significant Palestinian population within the country.

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Jordan and Iran

Even before Iran’s drone strikes against Israel, King Abdullah had made clear that he would not allow the Iranians “to play” games in his territory.

He was referring to how Iran plays games in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, according to a report in Ynet news.

In an interview with media, Abdullah expressed his discontent with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps directing pro-Iran militias in Iraq against Jordan.

Amman has seen the cost Iraq and Syria have paid for allowing Iran to conduct operations inside their borders, so the Jordanian King wants stability within his borders.

When Iran fired its series of missiles and drones, King Abdullah, it is learnt, was working with his military and intelligence teams for a swift response to subvert the threat.

Jordanian planes immediately took off to shoot down drones targeting Israel.

Tel Aviv later said that 99 per cent of the drones were shot down before they reached its borders.

In conversation with media, Jordan’s foreign minister Ayman Safadi said the focus now is to de-escalate the situation.

The first step is to end to the “aggression” in Gaza and the “illegal measures” on the West Bank and get on a track that will produce “lasting peace” according to Safadi.

On intercepting Iranian drones aimed at Israel, the minister concluded “We are in the range of fire. Any missile or projectile that could fall in Jordan will cause harm to Jordan, so we did what we have to do. Let me be very clear. We will do the same regardless of where those drones are from, from Israel, from Iran, from anybody else.”

While Jordan’s response is no less than a surprise, seeing it as a fundamental shift in their relations would be premature. It is rooted more in Amman’s necessities than in a diplomatic stance.

The move has, meanwhile, sparked strong criticism of King Abdullah. A meme of the king in Israeli military uniform has gone viral.