Jordan is especially vulnerable to the risk of spillover from the Israel-Gaza conflict which risks destabilizing the wider region. Not just does it share a lengthy border with Israel, but Jordan’s main sociopolitical schism is between East Bankers and its majority Palestinian population, meaning that Israel-Palestine conflicts always hold the potential to cause unrest in Jordan.
Balancing this has long been a tricky challenge for Jordan’s King Abdullah and the country’s government, and it has grown especially sensitive since Jordan has become reliant on Israeli gas imports. The start-up of a pipeline connection to Israel in late 2019 (MEES, 21 June 2019) enabled the delivery of up to 3bcm/y (290mn cfd) of Israeli gas to Jordan for domestic consumption and re-export through to Egypt via the Arab Gas Pipeline (AGP). (CONTINUED - 946 WORDS)
