Middle East Monitor: Jordanians reject gas deal with Israel

Opposition to the gas deal between Jordan and Israel is not going to go away; in fact, it is growing daily across all sectors of Jordanian society, including those close to the authorities. The agreement is due to begin in 2017 and last for 15 years. Jordan's parliamentarians have said no to it, as have the unions; parties on all sides have rejected it and women's, youth and student organisations have said that they will not buy Israeli gas.

Retired military personnel have also expressed their opposition along with some senators appointed by the king and former government leaders. Social media campaigns liken the purchase of Israeli gas to being part of the occupation of Palestine, as have public demonstrations.

In this sense, if nothing else, the gas agreement with Israel is reviving Jordanian political activism, which has weakened noticeably of late. It looks set to get people back onto the streets as the degree of rejection of such blatant normalisation with Israel becomes more obvious.

In private, questions are being asked about why Jordan has signed this deal with Israel and not, for example, Qatar or Algeria; or even Egypt, which hasn't sold gas to the Jordanians since 2011 due to the security situation in Sinai. People are also asking why there is a rush to sign a Memorandum of Understanding for importing gas from 2017; and why is the agreement to last for 15 years?
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