ABSTRACT
The day after the historic handshake in Washington, Jordan and Israel agreed on an agenda for negotiations toward a peace treaty. Israelis hoped that other Arab countries would make peace with the Jewish state and that the Arab economic boycott would be lifted. King Hussein was determined to be a player in the peace process and to consolidate and protect his own interests in the wake of the accord between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel, without waiting for similar progress in Israel's dealings with Syria or other Arab countries. On October 26, 1994, formal peace treaty was signed north of Aqaba in Wadi Arava by Rabin and Jordanian foreign minister Majali, with President Clinton as a co-signer. Ezer Weizman, Israel's president, called for a temporary halt in the implementation of the peace accords, and Prime Minister Rabin broached the idea of separation of Israelis and Palestinians, at one point even considering possibility of a security fence between two populations.
