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AMMAN: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi was greeted upon arrival in the Jordanian capital Amman on Monday for a bilateral summit aimed at preparing the political ground for the post-President Donald Trump era.
The visit followed an important meeting of Jordanian, Egyptian and Palestinian intelligence officers in Ramallah on Jan. 16.
Adnan Abu Odeh, former adviser of King Hussein and King Abdullah, told Arab News that the flurry of meetings reflects important political movement in the region.
Abu Odeh pointed to a key meeting on Jan. 11 that was held in Cairo for the Quartet for peace in the Middle East that also included the foreign ministers of France and Germany.
Jordan and Egypt are emerging as potential new members of the Quartet after the foreign ministers of both countries joined a meeting of the multilateral forum in Cairo last week.
The Quartet, consisting of the UN, EU, US and Russia, was established in 2002 to help mediate Middle East peace negotiations.
“Regional and international officials are trying to fix the problems that were caused by President Trump, especially in regards to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, support to UNRWA and the reopening of diplomatic offices between Palestinians and the US,” Abu Odeh said, pointing out that Jordan has 2 million registered Palestinian refugees.
Oraib Rantawi, director of the Al-Quds Center for Political Studies, told Arab News that the flurry of movement also reflects the decision by the Palestinian president to hold new elections this summer.
“What the Jordanian and Egyptian leaders are concerned about is the possible results of the elections. They are not in the mood for any new surprises,” he said.
Rantawi was referring to the victory of a pro-Hamas slate in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections that eventually triggered an international boycott of Gaza and a deep Palestinian split.
Palestinian leaders are expected to meet in Cairo in the coming days to discuss, among other issues, the possibility of Fatah and Hamas reconciling by means of participating in the coming elections with a single joint list.
Rantawi also said that the recent normalization of relations between two Gulf countries and Israel will “not make much of a difference” through the Biden era.
“It is possible that some of the Gulf countries will be expected to increase support for UNRWA and to help Gaza dig itself out of the long economic siege that it had suffered from,” Rantawi told Arab News.
According to the Egyptian presidency, the two leaders will discuss ways to boost Egyptian-Jordanian relations, in addition to exchanging views on regional issues in light of the keenness of both sides for regular coordination to unify efforts to protect Arab national security.
Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq are also emerging as an economic grouping with an emphasis on the need for cooperation on energy and agriculture.