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Jordan and Egypt, the only Arab countries that have peace treaties with Israel, are taking tougher stands against Tel Aviv in light of the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the possible annexation of parts of the West Bank in the coming weeks.

Relations between Israel, under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and both Jordan and Egypt have reached record lows, especially following Israel’s massive military operation against Gaza in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on southern Israel. King Abdullah and President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi have been especially critical of Israel’s disproportionate response to Oct. 7, which has manifested itself as collective punishment, mass bombings of civilian infrastructure, the weaponization of aid, the targeting of doctors, journalists and aid workers, forced displacement, and ethnic cleansing.

Following Israel’s attack on Doha earlier this month, the two leaders delivered strong words at the emergency Arab and Islamic summit held in the Qatari capital that was called in response. El-Sisi escalated his rhetoric, calling Israel an “enemy.” King Abdullah called on Arab and Muslim countries to review all instruments of joint action to confront the threat posed by Israel’s extremist government, urging them to take practical, actionable decisions.

Since Israel waged its war on Gaza, both countries have been coordinating their positions and warning against the forced displacement of Gazans — a substantial challenge for Egypt — as well as pointing to the fact that Israel was taking steps to annex major parts of the West Bank, which constitutes a direct national security threat to Jordan.

The current Israeli government has been actively dismantling the components of a potential Palestinian state

Osama Al-Sharif

For Jordan, Israel’s banning of UNRWA activities in Gaza and East Jerusalem marked a dangerous watershed in its attempt to close the Palestine refugee file and force host countries to settle and naturalize Palestinian refugees on their soil. For Egypt, the prospect of Israel forcing 2 million Gazans to flee the enclave into the Sinai is a red line that can never be crossed under any circumstances.

And for both countries, the two-state solution that delivers an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders is the only acceptable settlement to the Palestine issue; one that also secures the national security interests of both Cairo and Amman.

With the historic recognition of Palestinian statehood this week by several Western countries, including the UK and France, comes elevated concern about Israel’s possible response. Netanyahu’s initial reaction has been made public. He has rebuked states that recognized Palestine for rewarding Hamas and has doubled down on his vow never to allow a Palestinian state to be created west of the Jordan River.

The current Israeli government, the most extreme in the country’s history, has been actively dismantling the components of a potential Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In Gaza, it is carrying out the most horrific crime of ethnic cleansing by leveling cities, towns and refugee camps, displacing 2 million people while denying them aid, medicine and all means of survival. The Gaza genocide continues unabated with one ghastly conclusion: death or displacement.

For Egypt, the unfolding tragedy in Gaza is heading toward the worst humanitarian catastrophe in more than a century, with the prospect of the entire population of Gaza being forced to flee into Egypt’s Sinai. El-Sisi has made Egypt’s position clear: such a scenario will never be accepted and the Sinai will not be used as territory to absorb the Gazans.

For months now, Egypt has been beefing up its military presence in Sinai to prevent such a scenario. Israel has complained to the US about Egypt’s military presence in the Sinai, with extremist Israeli ministers attacking Cairo’s stance and inciting the public.

As for Jordan, King Abdullah has been warning against Netanyahu’s agenda for the West Bank for years. He has repeatedly put forward three red lines that Jordan will never accept: the displacement of Palestinians, the marking of Jordan as an alternative Palestinian state, and the liquidation of the Palestinian issue. Today, Jordanians see Netanyahu crossing all three.

Netanyahu has used the war on Gaza to distract from aggressive policies in the West Bank. Under his far-right government, thousands of new illegal settlement units have been approved in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Israel has destroyed thousands of buildings in Palestinian refugee camps and displaced at least 40,000 people, especially in Jenin and Tulkarm. In addition, Israel has imposed heavy fines on the Palestinian Authority to defund and weaken the internationally recognized body that represents the Palestinians.

Under his far-right government, thousands of new illegal settlement units have been approved in the West Bank

Osama Al-Sharif

Netanyahu has threatened to annex major parts of the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley, in response to the tsunami of international recognition of Palestinian statehood. For Jordan, that would effectively cut off any geographic link between Palestine and Jordan, while leaving urban Palestinian centers like Ramallah, Nablus, Jenin and Hebron separated from one another. The PA would effectively cease to exist.

It is the future of these isolated Palestinian population centers, which could become a Jordanian responsibility under US pressure, that is Amman’s main worry today.

While September has brought so many rewards to the Palestinians in terms of diplomatic recognition, it could also turn out to be the cruelest month for their cause. Washington has become complicit in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, while providing Tel Aviv with the political cover it needs to carry out the annexation of most of the West Bank.

Both the wiping out of Gaza and the annexation of the West Bank would end any realistic chance of the two-state solution becoming a reality, rendering the recent wave of recognitions both symbolic and ironic. On the other hand, pushing two countries that have peace treaties with Israel to the brink is foolish and dangerous. It underlines the fact that the US has no foreign policy agenda objectives other than those of Netanyahu.

It goes without saying that if decades-old peace treaties between Israel and its neighbors are now in jeopardy, what does that say about the future of the Abraham Accords, President Donald Trump’s most important foreign policy achievement? When a narcissistic and power-obsessed Netanyahu speaks of a “Greater Israel,” whose borders encroach beyond those of its neighbors, being realized as we speak, how can one imagine the future of the region with Israel emerging as a hegemon?

Netanyahu is a danger to regional peace and the fact is that the US is either unable or unwilling to rein him in. Both should be aware that Jordan and Egypt are escalating the situation. And now that the peace treaties are on the table, the stakes have never been higher.

• Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman. X: @plato010