Ronen Yitzhak
Ronen Yitzhak is an Israeli professor of history, specializing in Middle Eastern studies. He founded the Middle Eastern Studies department at the Western Galilee College in Akko, and has headed the department since 2010. His fields of expertise are Jordan, Military Intelligence and Terrorism in the Middle East, and Israeli-Jordanian relations.
Career Yitzhak holds a BA with honors in Arabic Language and Literature and a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies from Bar-Ilan University. His doctoral dissertation dealt with the Arab Legion during the 1948 War. He is a member of many professional associations around the world, and he serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Middle East and Islamic Studies Association of Israel (MEISAI). In 2021, he edited a special issue of Middle Eastern Studies (Vol. 57, Issue 3) under the title "From Warm to Cold Peace: 25 Years of the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty." In addition, Yitzhak is a commentator on Middle Eastern affairs in the online and print media, and his views are also published in Jordan.
His research Yitzhak works in three main fields of research: the military-political history of Jordan, military intelligence and terrorism, and Israeli-Jordanian relations. He has carried out research on the establishment of the Arab Legion and its activities during the 1948 War (the War of Independence), the activities of prominent Arab officers, and the influence of Great Britain on the military development of the Arab Legion in general, and military intelligence in particular. He has also studied the development of ties between Israel and Jordan since the beginning of the 20th century, and the interests and nature of the ties between the two countries before and after the October 1994 peace agreement.
Military-Political history of Jordan According to Yitzhak, a number of factors have led to the survival of Hashemite rule in Jordan. The main factor is the pragmatic policy that was implemented since the start of King Abdullah I's reign in Jordan, in 1921. Although King Abdullah I sought to take over all of the former territory of the British Mandate of Palestine during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, he realized that he lacked both military power and political backing from Great Britain, so he had to compromise and was only able to occupy the West Bank. [1] Policies of compromise, flexibility and pragmatism characterized the Hashemite regime from the start, and were also reflected in its actions during the 1967 and 1973 Wars. On the one hand, maintaining secret contacts and cooperating with Israel, but on the other hand, showing solidarity with the Arab world, even at the cost of loss or defeat in the 1967 War. Another factor related to the survival of the Hashemite regime is the recognition by the Jordanian people of its legitimacy, over the years. Yitzhak's research has shown that, in addition to the external assistance (military and economic) that the Jordanian government receives from Western and Gulf states, which has aided in its survival over the years, the recognition of the Hashemite regime's legitimacy within Jordan has also been a decisive factor in its survival. This legitimacy is granted to Hashemite rule, not only because of the Hashemite kings' religious descent from the Prophet Muhammad, but also because the Hashemite regime is perceived by many in the Arab world as being much more moderate and liberal than other Arab states.[2] One of the important Arab political officers studied by Yitzhak is the Jordanian officer, Colonel Abdullah al-Tall (1918-1973), commander of Jerusalem in the 1948 War, to whom Yitzhak dedicated one of his books, which was translated later into Arabic. According to Yitzhak, Abdullah al-Tall is considered to have been one of the most prominent officers in the modern Middle East. While he opposed the Hashemite regime and was even involved in the assassination of King Abdullah I in July 1951, al-Tall also clashed with Egyptian President Gamal 'Abd al-Nasser, because of his activities in the 1948 War. Al-Tall was acclaimed as the main hero of the 1948 War, and, after the War, was the most revered Arab figure in the Middle East, who also had political ambitions; therefore, Nasser feared that al-Tall would succeed in uniting the Arab world and becoming its leader, instead of Nasser, who had similar aspirations.[3]
Military intelligence and terrorism Ronen Yitzhak's research on Jordanian military intelligence has shown, beyond any doubt, that Jordanian intelligence is considered the best among the Arab countries in the Middle East, and one of the best intelligence organizations in the world. Thanks to the assistance of the British Army, which was responsible for building up Jordan's intelligence services; close cooperation with the Western intelligence services, including the Israeli Mossad; successful infiltration into terrorist organizations; and development of technological methods, Jordanian intelligence has gained a high reputation.[4] The outstanding ability of Jordanian intelligence is reflected both in the success of counterterrorism activities within Jordan, in the assistance it has provided to intelligence services in other Middle Eastern countries, and in the assistance it provided to the CIA in the assassination of Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 2006.[5] One of the issues that Yitzhak has dealt with was the question of the assassination of King Abdullah I in July 1951, and whether Jordanian intelligence failed to guard the king. According to his study, the assassination did not succeed due to an intelligence failure – intelligence warnings were received on the eve of the assassination – but because of Abdullah’s own behavior: he preferred to ignore the warnings and carry on without any protection. The high capability of the Jordanian intelligence is reflected in the uncovering of the conspiracy and the prosecution of those involved, within a few days after the assassination.[6]
Israel-Jordan relations From his research on Israel-Jordan relations, Yitzhak claims that it is the common interest between the two sides that has shaped the relationship between the two countries. This interest was founded on their desire to cooperate, because both were considered foreign and hated elements in the region. Later, it was the desire to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state in Palestine that strengthened the ties between the two parties and led to secret cooperation between them, even before the peace agreement between Israel and Jordan was signed in October 1994.[7] Yitzhak's research shows that Israel has taken care to support the Hashemite regime on various occasions, because it has seen the Hashemite regime as an important interest for Israel, since the late 1950s. The transfer of specific intelligence warnings that enabled the arrest of suspected subversive elements working against the Hashemite regime, on the one hand, and political activity carried out by Israel in Western countries, and especially in the United States, to strengthen Jordan (politically and militarily), on the other hand, has characterized Israel's policy towards Jordan in recent decades. Jordan, in return, has been helping Israel since the early 2000s, to reach Arab markets in the Gulf and begin political ties with leaders from the Gulf States, especially with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. These ties, which were initiated by Jordan and were kept secret at first, developed into public ties and later peace agreements between Israel and the Gulf States.[8]
References
1. Cooperation and Hostility: Abdallah, The Arab Legion and the 1948 War (Tel Aviv and Jerusalem: The Hebrew University Magnes Press and IDA Publishing House, 2006), p. 146 (in Hebrew). 2. "Between Reform and Islam: The Arab Spring in Jordan 2011-2014", Democracy and Security, 14 (2018), pp. 43-44. 3. Abdullah al-Tall: Arab Legion Officer: Arab Nationalism and Opposition to the Hashemite Regime (Sussex Academic Press, 2012), p. 119. 4. "The War Against Terrorism and For Stability of the Hashemite Regime: Jordanian Intelligence Challenges in the 21st Century", International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, 29 (2016), p. 213. 5. Ibid., p. 221. 6. "Jordanian Intelligence Under the Rule of King Abdullah I (1921-1951)", International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, 23 (2010), p. 658. 7. "Unwritten treaty: the historical background to Jordanian–Israeli relations, 1921–1951" Middle Eastern Studies, 57 (2021), p. 425. 8. "From Cooperation to Normalization? Jordan-Israel Relations since 1967", British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 44 (2017), p. 571.
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