West Bank plan eyes Jordanians on patrol

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TEL AVIV -- Palestinian security chiefs and Jordanian officials are discussing sending a unit of the Jordanian military to the West Bank to boost stability after Israel's withdrawal.

The deployment, backed by Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Youssef, would strengthen Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' hand to enforce law and order on rogue bands of Palestinian militants that could undermine his administration. For Jordan, the plan represents its most active role in the West Bank since former King Hussein forswore all claims to the territories in 1987.

Composed of Jordanian citizens of Palestinian origin, the Bader Brigade is formally considered an armed wing of the Palestine Liberation Organization, but the troops are trained and commanded by the Jordanian military.

"From the beginning of the discussions on disengagement, there's been an agreement" with Jordan, said Tawfiq Abu Khousa, a spokesman for the Palestinian Interior Ministry. "Now it only depends on the Israelis to give approval for them to come over. They are ready for every position that they are assigned to by the Palestinians."

The spokesman said that approximately 1,500 Bader soldiers could be dispatched to the West Bank. A Jordanian government spokesman, Asmaa Khodhor, told reporters last month that the government is waiting for a green light from the Palestinians to dispatch the forces.

Israeli consent is not a forgone conclusion. If Israel were to agree to such a plan, it would mark the first time it has permitted any foreign security forces into the Palestinian territories since the West Bank and Gaza were first conquered by the Jewish state in 1967.

Observers say such a landmark decision is almost certain to stir political opposition from right-wing opponents of the disengagement, although some Israeli security specialists are thought to support extending an invitation to the Jordanian forces.

"It puts security into the hands of a more credible force," said Shmuel Bar, an authority on the Middle East at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center. "The worst Jordanian force is better than the best trained Palestinian force."

The troops would most likely be deployed near the city of Jenin, a city known as a hotbed of militancy and lawlessness. Israel's planned withdrawal from four settlements in the northern West Bank will place a large region under Palestinian control, posing a challenge to Mr. Abbas' aspiration to encourage law and order.

Inviting the Jordanian troops across is a political decision that the Palestinian president has put off because it would signal a more confrontational approach toward militants.

"Then you can maintain the semblance of authority in these cities that will be evacuated," said Said Zeedani, a political analyst. "Then you can cope with the phenomenon of armed groups."

But Mr. Abbas isn't keen on facing down militants just yet. The Palestinian president is trying to convince armed groups like Hamas to join his government. Over the weekend, the Islamic militants reportedly rejected Mr. Abbas' offer. Hamas is also likely to be uncomfortable with the presence of the Bader unit patrolling the West Bank.

The Bader force was trained by the Jordanians as one part of the Palestinian army in exile. Similar Palestinian units were set up in Arab militaries around the region.

Mr. Bar said the soldiers are loyal to Jordan's Hashemite monarchy. But Palestinian officials and observers said that once they cross the border into the West Bank, they would be placed under the command of Mr. Youssef.

"They are forces of the army of Palestine, which are in Jordan," Mr. Abu Khousa said. "They will help in the disengagement, in creating order, and security, everything."