Jerusalem Post columnist cites Israel-Jordan border as argument for defense policy
In an opinion column for The Jerusalem Post, researcher Hillel Frisch argues that the situation on Israel’s border with Jordan demonstrates Israel’s use of force in response to attacks. He compares this direction with the situations in Gaza and Lebanon, where Israel is conducting military operations against Hamas and Hezbollah.
The argument about Jordan
According to Frisch’s account, Palestinian armed groups used Jordanian territory to attack Israel. The author writes that in 1970–1971, Israel struck areas of the Jordan River Valley from which raids were being carried out, seeking to induce King Hussein to drive these groups out of the country.
In the columnist’s view, the confrontation ended in the summer of 1971, when the last groups left Jordan and moved to Syria and Lebanon or were taken captive by Israel. He also mentions a 1997 attack by a Jordanian soldier that killed seven Israeli schoolgirls at the Island of Peace park on the Jordan River. According to Frisch, King Hussein personally visited the families of the victims.
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The author notes that after the Jordanian state restored control over its territory, Israeli strikes on the eastern front ceased. He also mentions the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, signed in 1994, and the supply of fresh water to Jordan under it.
The author’s position on Gaza and Lebanon
Frisch links the destruction in Gaza to Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack and characterizes Israeli actions as preventive rather than retaliatory. In his view, military operations will continue as long as Hamas remains the main political force in territory not controlled by Israel.
Regarding Lebanon, the author notes that Israel completely withdrew its troops from Lebanon in 2000 and from Gaza in 2005. He places responsibility for military infrastructure in Shiite villages near the border on Hezbollah and believes that the weakness of the Lebanese state makes it impossible to repeat the Jordanian scenario.
