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Treaty of Peace between the State of Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (26 October 1994)

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aliasesIsrael-Jordan Peace Treaty, Wadi Araba Treaty

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Summary

The treaty signed at the Arava/Araba Crossing Point on 26 October 1994, building on the Washington Declaration of 25 July 1994 which had declared the termination of the state of belligerency: peace is established between Israel and Jordan on exchange of instruments of ratification; the international boundary delimited by reference to the boundary definition under the Mandate in Annex I(a) is the permanent, secure and recognised boundary, without prejudice to the status of any territories that came under Israeli military government control in 1967, with special regimes referred to Annex I(b) for Naharayim/Baqura (Jordanian sovereignty, Israeli private ownership rights) and Annex I(c) for Zofar/Al-Ghamr; the Parties renounce threat or use of force, hostile alliances and terrorism, and undertake full diplomatic relations, rightful water allocations in the Jordan and Yarmouk rivers and Araba/Arava ground water under Annex II, removal of economic boycotts, and co-operation across transport, navigation, aviation, tourism, environment, energy, health and agriculture; refugees are deferred to the Multilateral Working Group on Refugees and to negotiations held in conjunction with and at the same time as the permanent status negotiations on the territories referred to in Article 3, and displaced persons to a quadripartite committee with Egypt and the Palestinians; and Israel respects Jordan’s present special role in Muslim Holy shrines in Jerusalem, giving high priority to the Jordanian historic role in those shrines when permanent status negotiations take place (Treaty of Peace between the State of Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (26 October 1994), lines 64-240).

What the file is

The Avalon Project (Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School) reproduction of the treaty as one web page, © 2008, about 4,585 words in the text copy, 473 lines including Avalon navigation at the head and tail. The treaty text is the preamble, Articles 1-30 and the closing signature block. Annexes I (with its Appendix and parts (a), (b) and (c)), II, III, IV and V are named in the articles and declared integral parts by Article 27(2), but none is reproduced in the file; the boundary co-ordinates and mapping materials, the water allocations of Annex II, and the other annexed detail the articles refer to are therefore not in the file. The treaty was done in the Hebrew, English and Arabic languages, all texts equally authentic, the English text to prevail in case of divergence of interpretation; the file reproduces only the English text. Slips as printed in the reproduction: the preamble aims at peace “based an Security Council resolutions 242 and 338” (for based on); Article 7(2)(b) gives a deadline “from the exchange the instruments of ratification” (of missing); Article 4(7)(b) speaks of a Middle East free from weapons of mass destruction “both conventional and non-conventional”; and the closing date line gives the Hebrew year as 5775. Each is recorded as printed in the reading notes and under Open questions where it matters.

Section by section

  • Preamble (lines 64-84). The two Governments; the Washington Declaration of 25th July 1994, which they are committed to honour and in which they declared the termination of the state of belligerency; a just, lasting and comprehensive peace based on Security Council resolutions 242 and 338 in all their aspects; peace based on freedom, equality, justice and respect for fundamental human rights, overcoming psychological barriers and promoting human dignity; faith in the UN Charter and the right and obligation to live in peace with each other and all states within secure and recognised boundaries; friendly relations and co-operation under international law, lasting security, and avoiding threats and the use of force between them.
  • Article 1, Establishment of Peace (lines 86-90). Peace is established effective from the exchange of the instruments of ratification.
  • Article 2, General Principles (lines 92-108). UN Charter and international-law principles apply between them: mutual respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence and for the right to live in peace within secure and recognised boundaries; good neighbourly co-operation, no threat or use of force, peaceful settlement of all disputes; respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every state in the region; the pivotal role of human development and dignity; and the belief that within their control involuntary movements of persons adversely prejudicing either Party’s security should not be permitted.
  • Article 3, International Boundary (lines 110-130). The boundary is delimited with reference to the boundary definition under the Mandate as shown in Annex I(a) with its mapping materials and co-ordinates, and is the permanent, secure and recognised international boundary, without prejudice to the status of any territories that came under Israeli military government control in 1967; boundary, territory, territorial waters and airspace are inviolable; demarcation under Appendix (I) to Annex I within nine months of signing; a river boundary follows natural changes in the river’s course, other changes do not affect it unless agreed; each Party deploys on its side immediately upon exchange of ratification instruments; negotiations on delimitation of the maritime boundary in the Gulf of Aqaba to conclude within 9 months of signature; Annex I(b) applies to Naharayim/Baqura, under Jordanian sovereignty with Israeli private ownership rights, and Annex I(c) to Zofar/Al-Ghamr.
  • Article 4, Security (lines 132-170). Security relations based on mutual trust, joint interests and co-operation, aiming towards a regional framework of partnership in peace and a CSCME on the lines of the Helsinki process, culminating in a regional zone of security and stability; self-defence under the UN Charter preserved; undertakings to refrain from threat or use of force or weapons of any kind against each other, from organising, instigating, inciting, assisting or participating in belligerency, hostility, subversion or violence against the other, and to prevent such acts originating from or committed within, through or over their territory; no joining or assisting a military or security coalition, organisation or alliance with a third party aimed at aggression or military hostility against the other, and no entry, stationing or operating of third-party military forces, personnel or materiel in circumstances adversely prejudicing the other’s security; co-operation in combating terrorism of all kinds, preventing terrorism, subversion or violence from or through their territory, and, without prejudice to freedom of expression and association, preventing the entry, presence and co-operation of groups threatening the other’s security by violent means or incitement to them, and preventing cross-boundary infiltrations; a consultations mechanism, including liaison, verification and supervision, to be agreed within 3 months of ratification exchange; and priority joint work in the Multilateral Working Group on Arms Control and Regional Security towards a Middle East free from hostile alliances and coalitions and free from weapons of mass destruction in the context of a comprehensive, lasting and stable peace.
  • Article 5, Diplomatic and Other Bilateral Relations (lines 172-178). Full diplomatic and consular relations and resident ambassadors within one month of ratification exchange; the normal relationship further includes economic and cultural relations.
  • Article 6, Water (lines 180-202). Mutual recognition of the rightful allocations of both in Jordan River and Yarmouk River waters and Araba/Arava ground water, per the principles, quantities and quality in Annex II, to be fully respected; management and development of their water resources must not harm the other’s; their resources are insufficient for their needs and more water should be supplied, including by regional and international co-operation projects; co-operation on developing existing and new resources, increasing availability, minimising wastage, preventing contamination, mutual assistance in shortages, information transfer and joint research, with water issues along the entire boundary dealt with in totality including the possibility of trans-boundary transfers; implementation in Annex II.
  • Article 7, Economic Relations (lines 204-216). Economic development and prosperity as pillars of peace; removal of all discriminatory barriers to normal economic relations, termination of economic boycotts directed at each other, and co-operation in terminating boycotts against either Party by third parties; negotiations for economic co-operation agreements, including trade and a free trade area, investment, banking, industrial co-operation and labour, to conclude within 6 months of ratification exchange; bilateral and multilateral co-operation to promote their economies and neighbourly economic relations with other regional parties.
  • Article 8, Refugees and Displaced Persons (lines 218-232). Recognising the massive human problems caused to both Parties by the Middle East conflict and their contribution to alleviating human suffering, the Parties will seek to further alleviate problems arising bilaterally; recognising those problems cannot be fully resolved bilaterally, they will seek to resolve them in appropriate forums in accordance with international law: displaced persons in a quadripartite committee together with Egypt and the Palestinians; refugees in the Multilateral Working Group on Refugees and in negotiations, in an agreed framework, in conjunction with and at the same time as the permanent status negotiations pertaining to the territories referred to in Article 3; and through agreed United Nations and other agreed international economic programmes concerning refugees and displaced persons, including assistance to their settlement.
  • Article 9, Places of Historical and Religious Significance (lines 234-242). Freedom of access to places of religious and historical significance; Israel respects the present special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Muslim Holy shrines in Jerusalem and, when permanent status negotiations take place, will give high priority to the Jordanian historic role in these shrines; joint promotion of interfaith relations among the three monotheistic religions towards religious understanding, moral commitment, freedom of religious worship, tolerance and peace.
  • Article 10, Cultural and Scientific Exchanges (lines 244-248). Normal cultural relations, and negotiations on cultural and scientific agreements to conclude as soon as possible and not later than 9 months from ratification exchange, to remove biases developed through periods of conflict.
  • Article 11, Mutual Understanding and Good Neighbourly Relations (lines 250-266). Abstention from hostile or discriminatory propaganda and legal and administrative measures to prevent its dissemination by any organisation or individual in either Party’s territory, without prejudice to freedom of expression under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; repeal of adverse or discriminatory references and expressions of hostility in their legislation within 3 months of ratification exchange, and none in government publications; mutual due process for each other’s citizens; a joint committee to examine claimed violations.
  • Article 12, Combating Crime and Drugs (lines 268-272). Co-operation against crime, with emphasis on smuggling, and against production of and trafficking in illicit drugs, perpetrators to be brought to trial; relevant agreements per Annex III within 9 months of ratification exchange.
  • Article 13, Transportation and Roads (lines 274-286). Free movement of each other’s nationals and vehicles under the general rules for other states, without discriminatory taxes or restrictions; roads and border-crossings opened and maintained, further road and rail links considered; transportation agreements, including joint projects, traffic safety, standards, licensing, land passages, cargo shipment and meteorology, within 6 months of ratification exchange; continued negotiations for a highway between Egypt, Israel and Jordan near Eilat.
  • Article 14, Freedom of Navigation and Access to Ports (lines 288-296). Innocent passage for each other’s vessels through territorial waters under international law; normal port access for each other’s vessels and cargoes, and vessels and cargoes destined for or coming from the other, on the conditions generally applicable to other nations; the Strait of Tiran and the Gulf of Aqaba are international waterways open to all nations for unimpeded and non-suspendable freedom of navigation and overflight, and each Party’s navigation and overflight rights for access through them are respected.
  • Article 15, Civil Aviation (lines 298-306). The multilateral aviation agreements both are party to apply between them, particularly the 1944 Chicago Convention and the 1944 International Air Services Transit Agreement; a Chicago Convention Article 89 national-emergency declaration will not be applied to the other discriminatorily; negotiations on the international air corridor opened under the Washington Declaration and for a Civil Aviation Agreement to conclude within 6 months of ratification exchange.
  • Article 16, Posts and Telecommunications (lines 308-312). Direct telephone and facsimile lines already opened under the Washington Declaration; postal links, negotiations concluded, activated on signature; normal wireless and cable communications and television relay by cable, radio and satellite to be established under international conventions and regulations, negotiations to conclude within 9 months of ratification exchange.
  • Article 17, Tourism (lines 314-318). An agreement to facilitate and encourage mutual tourism and tourism from third countries to be negotiated as soon as possible and concluded not later than three months from ratification exchange.
  • Article 18, Environment (lines 320-324). Co-operation on the environment, including conservation of nature and prevention of pollution, as set forth in Annex IV; an agreement within 6 months of ratification exchange.
  • Article 19, Energy (lines 326-334). Co-operation in developing energy resources, including solar energy projects; the concluded interconnection of their electric grids in the Eilat-Aqaba area to be implemented on signature, as part of a wider binational and regional concept, with negotiations to widen it; energy agreements within 6 months of ratification exchange.
  • Article 20, Rift Valley Development (lines 336-340). Integrated development of the Jordan Rift Valley area, including joint economic, environmental, energy-related and tourism projects; continued efforts towards the Jordan Rift Valley Development Master Plan under the Terms of Reference developed in the Trilateral Israel-Jordan-US Economic Committee.
  • Article 21, Health (lines 342-346). Co-operation in health, with an agreement to be negotiated within 9 months of ratification exchange.
  • Article 22, Agriculture (lines 348-352). Co-operation in agriculture, including veterinary services, plant protection, biotechnology and marketing, with an agreement to be negotiated within 6 months of ratification exchange.
  • Article 23, Aqaba and Eilat (lines 354-358). Negotiations, starting not later than one month from ratification exchange, on arrangements for the joint development of Aqaba and Eilat, including joint tourism development, joint customs, a free trade zone, aviation co-operation, pollution prevention, maritime matters, police, customs and health co-operation; all relevant agreements within 9 months of ratification exchange.
  • Article 24, Claims (lines 360-364). A claims commission for the mutual settlement of all financial claims.
  • Article 25, Rights and Obligations (lines 366-380). UN Charter rights and obligations unaffected; fulfilment in good faith without regard to any other party’s action or inaction and independently of any instrument inconsistent with the Treaty, each Party representing that in its opinion there is no inconsistency between its existing treaty obligations and this Treaty; application of the multilateral conventions they are parties to, with notification to the UN Secretary General and other depositories; abolition of pejorative references to the other in multilateral conventions to which they are parties, to the extent they exist; no obligation in conflict with the Treaty; subject to Charter Article 103, Treaty obligations are binding and implemented in case of conflict with any other obligations.
  • Article 26, Legislation (lines 382-386). Within 3 months of exchange of ratifications, enactment of legislation necessary to implement the Treaty, termination of inconsistent international commitments and repeal of inconsistent legislation.
  • Article 27, Ratification (lines 388-394). Ratification by both Parties in conformity with their respective national procedures; entry into force on exchange of instruments of ratification; the Annexes, Appendices and other attachments are integral parts.
  • Article 28, Interim Measures (lines 396-400). Interim measures in agreed spheres pending conclusion of the relevant agreements, as stipulated in Annex V.
  • Article 29, Settlement of Disputes (lines 402-408). Disputes over application or interpretation resolved by negotiations; if not settled by negotiations, resolved by conciliation or submitted to arbitration.
  • Article 30, Registration (lines 410-414). Transmission to the UN Secretary General for registration under Article 102 of the UN Charter.
  • Closing and signatures (lines 416-432). Done at the Arava/Araba Crossing Point on the day given as Heshvan 21st, 5775 (as printed), Jumada Al-Ula 21st, 1415, corresponding to 26th October 1994, in Hebrew, English and Arabic, all equally authentic, the English text to prevail on divergence. Signed by Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister, for the State of Israel, and Abdul Salam Majali, Prime Minister, for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, witnessed by William J. Clinton, President of the United States of America.

Key passages

  • “Peace is hereby established between the State of Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (the “Parties”) effective from the exchange of the instruments of ratification of this Treaty.” (Article 1)
  • “The boundary, as set out in Annex I (a), is the permanent, secure and recognised international boundary between Israel and Jordan, without prejudice to the status of any territories that came under Israeli military government control in 1967.” (Article 3(2))
  • “Israel respects the present special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Muslim Holy shrines in Jerusalem. When negotiations on the permanent status will take place, Israel will give high priority to the Jordanian historic role in these shrines.” (Article 9(2))
  • “The Parties consider the Strait of Tiran and the Gulf of Aqaba to be international waterways open to all nations for unimpeded and non-suspendable freedom of navigation and overflight.” (Article 14(3))
  • “The Parties agree to establish a claims commission for the mutual settlement of all financial claims.” (Article 24)

Evidence the work relies on

  • The treaty is a primary legal instrument and cites no external evidence; its own authorities, as it presents them, are the Washington Declaration of 25 July 1994 (preamble, Articles 9, 15 and 16), Security Council resolutions 242 and 338 (preamble), the Charter of the United Nations (preamble, Articles 2, 4, 25 and 30, including Articles 102 and 103), the boundary definition under the Mandate (Article 3(1)), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 11(2)), the 1944 Chicago Convention and the 1944 International Air Services Transit Agreement (Article 15), and its own Annexes I-V, Appendix (I) to Annex I and mapping materials, which are declared integral but are not reproduced in the file.

Analysis

  • Method and form: a bilateral peace treaty in 30 articles, establishing peace and a recognised boundary first and then building the normal relationship article by article, almost every co-operation article setting a deadline counted from the exchange of instruments of ratification (one month for ambassadors, three for tourism and for repealing hostile legislation, six for economic, transport, aviation, environment, energy and agriculture agreements, nine for boundary demarcation, the maritime boundary, cultural, crime, health and Aqaba-Eilat agreements).
  • What it decides and what it defers: the boundary between Israel and Jordan itself is declared permanent, while the status of the territories that came under Israeli military government control in 1967 is expressly preserved by Article 3(2), and the two Palestinian questions the treaty touches are both sent elsewhere — refugees to the Multilateral Working Group and to negotiations held with the permanent status negotiations on those territories, displaced persons to a committee whose other members are Egypt and the Palestinians, neither of which is a party to this treaty; Jerusalem is touched only through Jordan’s role in the Muslim shrines, with priority promised for that role in permanent status negotiations the treaty does not conduct.
  • Limits of the file: because Annexes I-V and the maps are not reproduced, the file cannot show where the boundary runs, what water quantities either Party is allocated, or what the Naharayim/Baqura and Zofar/Al-Ghamr regimes and the Annex V interim measures actually provide; on those points the articles state only that the annexes govern.
  • Perspective: the text speaks only in the two Governments’ agreed voice; no Palestinian, Egyptian or other third-party position appears except as a named member of a future forum.

People, organizations, places and events

Yitzhak Rabin, Abdul Salam Majali, Bill Clinton, Israel, Hashemite Jordan Kingdom, Egypt, United States, UN Security Council, City of Jerusalem, Jordan Valley, Naharayim/Baqura area, Zofar/Al-Ghamr area, Washington Declaration, Wadi Araba Treaty

Concepts

Normalization, UN Security Council Resolution 242, UN Security Council Resolution 338

How it relates to other sources

  • This is the primary text of the treaty that From the River to the Sea: Essays for a Free Palestine discusses under the name Wadi Araba Treaty: that account records Jordanian protesters demanding its abrogation, says King Hussein signed it in October 1994 and that the Jordanian parliament ratified it without accessing and reviewing its five annexes, footnotes and listed maps. The treaty text itself is signed, in its closing block, by Prime Minister Abdul Salam Majali for Jordan and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin for Israel, and Article 27(2) makes the Annexes, Appendices and other attachments integral parts; the file contains five annexes by number (I-V), which matches the count in that account, while the signature attribution differs as recorded on the Wadi Araba Treaty page.
  • With Treaty of Peace between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Israel (26 March 1979) it shares the Avalon form, the establishment of peace on exchange of ratification instruments, an inviolable permanent boundary, a claims commission, the Strait of Tiran and Gulf of Aqaba passage clause in near-identical words, good-faith fulfilment independent of any other party or external instrument, and dispute settlement by negotiation, conciliation or arbitration; unlike the 1979 treaty it contains no withdrawal, because no Jordanian territory provisions of that kind are in its boundary article, and it adds the water, refugees and Jerusalem-shrines articles the earlier treaty does not have.
  • It follows the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements (13 September 1993) and the Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area (4 May 1994) in the 1993-1994 sequence, and borrows their frame for its Palestinian references: its refugee clause ties one track to the permanent status negotiations, and its boundary clause preserves the status of the 1967 territories those negotiations were to decide.
  • Its predecessor instrument between the same two states in the wiki is the Jordanian-Israeli General Armistice Agreement, whose Armistice Demarcation Lines were expressly without prejudice to future territorial settlements or boundary lines; this treaty replaces that provisional frame between Israel and Jordan with a boundary declared permanent, secure and recognised.

Open questions

  • Annexes I-V, Appendix (I) to Annex I and all mapping materials are not reproduced, so the boundary line and co-ordinates, the Annex II water allocations, the Naharayim/Baqura and Zofar/Al-Ghamr regimes, the Annex III crime understandings, the Annex IV environmental provisions and the Annex V interim measures cannot be stated from this file.
  • The closing date line gives the Hebrew year as 5775, as printed; the file itself supplies no other Hebrew year to check it against.
  • The preamble’s “based an Security Council resolutions 242 and 338” and Article 7’s “from the exchange the instruments of ratification” are recorded as printed in the Avalon reproduction; whether the slips are the reproduction’s or the signed text’s cannot be settled from this file.
  • Article 4(7)(b) calls for a Middle East free from weapons of mass destruction, “both conventional and non-conventional”, as printed; conventional weapons are not ordinarily classed as weapons of mass destruction, and the file offers no second formulation.
  • The treaty gives no date for the exchange of instruments of ratification, so the deadlines it counts from that exchange cannot be dated from this file.

Coverage

lines 1-473 of 473, read in full.

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