Mubarak predicted Jordan would lose its ‘int’l role’ after West Bank disengagement, British documents reveal

Hosni Mubarak predicted “disastrous effects” for Jordan due to its disengagement from the occupied West Bank almost four decades ago, British documents reveal.

He also warned the late King Hussein that this move would result in the loss of his “international role.”

The documents , unearthed by MEMO in the British National Archive,  further show that the late Egyptian president cautioned the former Soviet Union about potential “bloodshed” due to its policy of sending Jewish emigrants to settle in the West Bank.

Jordan controlled the West Bank, including Jerusalem, after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, known as the Nakba. In April 1950, the Jordanian Parliament passed a resolution annexing the territory. However, during the 1967 war – the Naksa, Israel occupied the West Bank from Jordan.

In July 1988, King Hussein made a historic decision to disengage with the West Bank, severing Jordan’s legal and administrative ties with it. This move followed an Arab League decision recognising the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), led by Yasser Arafat, as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. That same year, the king dissolved Jordan’s Parliament, half of whose members were Palestinian West Bank representatives.

A few months later, in November 1989, Jordan held its first parliamentary elections in 22 years. Opposition groups, particularly the Islamic Action Front, affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, won more seats than pro-government candidates.

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Mubarak told UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher that King Hussein’s decision to disengage from the West Bank had placed him in an “enormous hole.” During their meeting in London in early February 1990, Mubarak emphasised that the disengagement had “disastrous effects.” One of these, he argued, was that the king had “found himself without any sort of international role anymore,” according to the records of the meeting.

Mubarak also predicted that the PLO would eventually “come running after” Hussein. Additionally, he noted that Palestinians in the diaspora had withdrawn their assets from Jordanian banks, causing “financial collapse”. In an attempt to help Jordan, Mubarak “urged Saudi Arabia to give the king financial support.” While he did not specify the Saudi reaction, he remarked that decisions about financial assistance to Arab states “rested with [Saudi] King Fahd [Bin Abdulaziz] alone.”

Documents, unearthed by MEMO in the British National Archive, show that the late Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak cautioned the former Soviet Union about potential ‘bloodshed’ due to its policy of sending Jewish emigrants to settle in the West Bank

Mubarak also confirmed to Thatcher that Zaid Al-Rifai, then Jordanian prime minister, had persuaded King Hussein to disengage from the West Bank. The Egyptian president claimed that he had strongly reprimanded Al-Rifai for this advice, stating that he had given him “a dressing down in front of the king” but admitted that it was “a bit late.”

In response to Mubarak’s comments, Thatcher observed that King Hussein “was having a difficult time,” which she said “grieved her.”

Before meeting with Thatcher, Mubarak had visited North Korea, China and the Soviet Union. He told the British prime minister that he had warned then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev of the risk of violence against Soviet Jewish settlers in the Palestinian territories.

Documents, unearthed by MEMO in the British National Archive, show that the late Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak cautioned the former Soviet Union about potential ‘bloodshed’ due to its policy of sending Jewish emigrants to settle in the West Bank

Mubarak’s warning came during the peak of the First Intifada in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. During the uprising, illegal Jewish settlers frequently attacked Palestinians, who defended themselves by throwing stones at Israeli occupation soldiers and settlers.

Mubarak clarified that he had not suggested that the Soviet Union “should bar the emigration of its Jews” to Israel, however, he insisted that Arab nations “needed guarantees” that these emigrants would not settle in the occupied territories. According to Mubarak, Gorbachev “agreed” and promised to discuss the issue with the Supreme Soviet. The Egyptian president described the resettlement of Jewish emigrants in the occupied territories as a “great mistake”, warning that it was only a matter of time before Palestinians under occupation would “start to murder some of them,” leading to “further instability” in the region.

The UK leader told Mubarak that she had “strongly criticised” the Israeli government for settling Soviet Jews not only in the West Bank but also in the suburbs of Jerusalem.

Before his meeting with Thatcher, Mubarak also warned Douglas Hurd, the UK’s foreign secretary, that if the problem was not solved, it “would lead to bloodshed.”

At the time, Israeli Housing and Construction Minister General Ariel Sharon was planning to expand Jewish settlements in Palestinian territories and had even suggested that Palestinians should be transferred to Jordan. When asked about this plan, Mubarak predicted that it would escalate violence “to a pitch where Jews were at risk throughout the world.”

Regarding the status of the PLO, Mubarak told Hurd that its leaders outside the occupied territories were “relatively patient,” but those inside were “seething.” He argued that Arafat had made “concessions” to Israel but “needed a response” from the Israeli government.

Before Mubarak’s visit to London, the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) emphasised the importance of his meeting with Thatcher. A briefing report from the Foreign Secretary’s Office described the meeting as “particularly timely at a moment of more than usual danger” in the Middle East.

The report also noted that Mubarak played a “prominent role” in supporting US peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. It described him as a leader who “remained a force for moderation” in the peace process and who sought to restrain what it called the “Arab wild men.”

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