Jordanian and Israeli Drafts of a Non-Aggression Agreement between Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, 28 February 1950

Draft Proposed by Fawzi al-Mulki, on behalf of the Government of Jordan:

Whereas the Armistice Agreement concluded on April 3rd 1949 provides, under paragraph Three of Article II, for the revision of the terms of that Agreement or any part thereof, by mutual consent at any time, now therefore the two Contracting Parties, animated by the desire to enforce and maintain permanent peace in Palestine as provided for in the preamble to the Rhodes Agreement and in the articles thereof -- do hereby agree to introduce the following modifications to be an Appendix to the said Agreement.

(1) The two Contracting Parties re-affirm their mutual pledges of non-aggression and their determination to maintain permanent peace.

(2) The two Contracting Parties undertake to observe the line of delimitation as laid down in the existing Armistice and to explore the possibility of finding agreed solutions with the object of abolishing no-man's-land areas wherever possible.

(3) The two Contracting Parties hereby agree to set up special Mixed Committees to consider and discuss such matters as may be brought before them, with reference to territorial and other questions, with the object of substituting more suitable lines of delimitation for those at present in force.

    Such discussions will include consideration of modifications in the area of the City of Jerusalem and also the question of a port and an outlet to the sea under full Jordan sovereignty, and the allocation of a free zone in Haifa Port for the use of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

(4) The two Contracting Parties undertake to adopt all necessary measures to ensure freedom of worship and to maintain the safety of, and guarantee free access to, the Holy Places, in the existing situation. They pledge themselves not to resort to armed conflict in the Holy City and they are prepared to offer adequate guarantees to this effect to the United Nations Organization.

(5) One of the first duties which shall be entrusted to one of the special committees referred to in Article III of this agreement will be the consideration of measures to secure the payment of financial compensation to the owners of property in Jerusalem. Such compensation to be paid when territorial delimitation takes place.

(6) The two Contracting Parties undertake to consider the adoption of measures to deal with the question of Arab properties situated inside the Israeli area. Such properties [sic., for "proprietors"] to visit them in person or to appoint agents on their behalf to deal with their properties in the way they prefer.

    Owners of property have the right to delegate the two Contracting Parties to settle any differences which may arise concerning such properties. The same principles will be applied to the case of Israelis who own property on the Jordanian side of the demarcation line.

    In the case of owners of properties and land in the area of the triangle, all necessary active measures will be taken -- until such time as comprehensive modifications in this area are agreed upon -- to secure their rights as laid down in paragraph Six of Article VI of the Rhodes Agreement. Moreover all the provisions of the aforesaid paragraph Six should be carried out exactly.

(7) The relevant committees shall consider suitable measures to facilitate access to the Israeli establishment on Jebel Tor (Mount Scopus) and likewise access for Arabs to Bethlehem as is laid down in Article VIII of the Armistice Agreement.

(8) Instructions shall be drawn up -- in the form of an Appendix to the present agreement -- regarding the ways and means to be adopted to ensure the execution of the terms of the said present agreement.

Draft Proposed by the Government of Israel:

WHEREAS on the third day of April 1949, the Contracting Parties signed at Rhodes a General Armistice Agreement to remain in force until a peaceful settlement between the Parties is achieved.

  AND WHEREAS the Parties now desire, in order to promote normal relations and as a further step towards a peaceful settlement, to reinforce the said General Armistice Agreement and extend the scope of mutual accord between them.

  HAVE THEREFORE agreed to conclude the following Agreement of Amity and Non-Aggression and have accordingly appointed as their Plenipotentiaries,

The State of Israel .....................

The Hashemite Jordan Kingdom ..................

who, after presentation of their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed on the following provisions.

Article I

(1) Each of the Contracting Parties undertakes not to resort to war or acts of armed violence or any other acts of aggression or hostility against the other, or to invade territories under the control of the other, or to permit any territory under its control to serve as a base or to be used for passage for armed attack by a third party on the other.

(2) If, on any occasion, there should arise between the Contracting Parties differences of opinion which they are unable to settle between themselves, they undertake to have recourse to the conciliatory and arbitral procedures offered under international law for the settlement thereof, or such other means of pacific settlement as shall be agreed upon by the Parties.

Article II

For the duration of this Agreement the Armistice Demarcation Line described in the said General Armistice Agreement shall remain in force subject to any modifications agreed to by both Parties in accordance with the terms of the said General Armistice Agreement.

    In order to reduce possible friction, the Contracting Parties agree to eliminate the various areas of "no-man's-land" the continued existence of which they consider undesirable.

Article III

The Contracting Parties are agreed upon the necessity for taking joint steps in order to protect the Holy Places of all faiths in Jerusalem and to ensure freedom of access thereto and freedom of worship thereat to the adherents of all faiths. A Joint Declaration by the Contracting Parties in this regard is contained in Annex 1 to the present Agreement. The Contracting Parties further agree to offer requisite assurances to the United Nations regarding the inviolability of the Holy Places and the observance of the said Declaration.

Article IV

(1) The Contracting Parties are agreed upon the desirability of establishing economic and commercial relations between them.

(2) For the implementation of the Article economic and commercial accords shall be concluded between the Parties. Trade Delegates shall be exchanged between them not later than three months from the coming into force of this Agreement. They shall negotiate these economic and commercial accords and be responsible for their effective observance.

Article V

The Contracting Parties are agreed that all necessary steps shall be taken to ensure the resumption of the normal functioning of the cultural and humanitarian institutions on Mount Scopus and the use of the cemetery on the Mount of Olives and free access thereto, as well as the free movement of traffic on the Bethlehem-Jerusalem road, in accordance with Article VIII of the said General Armistice Agreement.

Article VI

(1) Having regard to the purposes of this Agreement and in order to implement its provisions and to formulate the basis for a final peaceful settlement, the Contracting Parties hereby establish a Mixed Commission to be known as the Israel-Jordan Commission.

(2) The Israel-Jordan Commission shall inter alia:

   (a) Examine all territorial problems outstanding between the Contracting Parties.

   (b) Consider and elaborate plans for the determination of rights to financial recompense and the assessment and payment thereof in respect of immovable property in Jerusalem which was abandoned by its owners as a consequence of the armed conflict.

   (c) Examine ways and means for the settlement of the just claims for compensation of persons permanently resident in the territory of either of the Contracting Parties for property abandoned by them in the territory of the other Contracting Party.

    The Commission may consider the feasibility, in suitable cases, of the owners of such property in person, or by their duly authorized agents, being admitted to the territory of the other Party for the purpose of settling such claims. Should this not be found practicable, the Commission itself shall prepare plans for the final settlement of these claims.

   (d) Devote its attention to the question of the establishment of a free zone in the Port of Haifa for the Hashemite Jordan Kingdom for commercial purposes.

   (e) Examine measures for the full resumption of operations by the Palestine Electric Corporation and by the Palestine Potash Limited.

   (f) Generally supervise the proper execution of the Present Agreement.

Article VII

(1) The Commission established pursuant to Article VI hereof shall be composed of ..... representatives of each Party designated by the respective Governments.

(2) This Commission has the power to appoint such commissions as it deems necessary in order to make possible the expeditious completion of its task.

(3) The Contracting Parties shall immediately nominate their representatives to the Commission which shall hold its first meeting not later than seven days from the coming into force of this Agreement. Subsequent meetings shall take place upon the first and fifteenth days of each month thereafter, unless such dates fall on a Friday or on a Saturday, in which event the meeting will be postponed for not more than two days.

(4) The Commission's headquarters shall be at Jerusalem.

(5) The Commission and its sub-commissions shall establish their own rules of procedure.

(6) Members of the Commission and of sub-commissions shall, while on the territory of the other Contracting Party, be granted the appropriate privileges and immunities.

Article VIII

The Contracting Parties agree that the Mixed Armistice Commission set up in accordance with the said General Armistice Agreement shall have no powers or functions in relation to the execution [of] this Agreement.

Article IX

This agreement shall enter into force immediately upon signature, and shall remain in force for a period of five years or for so long as the General Armistice Agreement signed at Rhodes on 3 April, 1949, is in force, whichever period shall be the shorter.

Article X

Nothing in the present agreement is intended to, or shall in any way prejudice the rights and obligations which devolve, or may devolve, upon either of the Contracting Parties under the Charter of the United Nations.

Article XI

A copy of this Agreement shall be communicated to the Secretary General of the United Nations for transmission to the appropriate organs of the United Nations.

IN FAITH WHEREOF THE Plenipotentiaries of the Contracting Parties have signed the present Agreement and have hereunto affixed their seals.

Done in duplicate in the Hebrew, Arabic and English languages, all authentic, this ... day of March, 1950, corresponding to the ... day of Adar in the year 5710 since the creation of the world, and the ... day of Jumada-l-ula in the year 1369 of the Hijra.

For the State of Israel               For the Hashemite Jordan Kingdom

[no signatures]                             [no signatures]

Annex One

Joint Declaration Concerning the Holy Places, Religious Buildings and Sites in Jerusalem

The Governments of Israel and of the Hashemite Jordan Kingdom,

CONSCIOUS of their responsibilities concerning the protection and reservation of the sanctuaries in Jerusalem of the three great religions;

   Solemnly undertake by the provisions of the present declaration to guarantee the protection and preservation of and free access to the Holy Places, religious buildings and sites of Jerusalem.

Article 1

The free exercise of all forms of worship shall be guaranteed and ensured in accordance with the Declaration of Human Rights of 10 December, 1948, the Declaration of Independence of Israel and the Constitution of the Hashemite Jordan Kingdom.

Article 2

The Holy Places, religious buildings and sites which were regarded as Holy Places, religious buildings and sites on 14 May, 1948, shall be preserved and their sacred character protected. No act of a nature to profane that sacred character shall be permitted.

Article 3

The rights in force on 14 May 1948 with regard to the Holy Places, religious buildings and sites shall remain in force.

    The Governments of the Hashemite Jordan Kingdom and Israel undertake in particular to assure the safety of ministers of religion, those officiating in religious services and the members of religious orders and institutions, to allow them to exercise their ministries without hindrance, and to facilitate their communications both inside and outside the country in connection with the performance of their religious duties and functions.

Article 4

The Governments of the Hashemite Jordan Kingdom and Israel undertake to guarantee freedom of access to the Holy Places, religious buildings and sites situated in the territory placed under their authority by the final peaceful settlement between them, or, pending that settlement, in the territory at present occupied by them under armistice agreements; and, pursuant to this undertaking, will guarantee right of entry and of transit to ministers of religion, pilgrims and visitors without distinction as to nationality or faith, subject only to considerations of national security, all the above in conformity with the status quo prior to 14 May 1948.

Article 5

No form of taxation shall be levied in respect of any Holy Place, religious building or site which was exempt from such taxation on 14 May 1948.

    No change in the incidence of any form of taxation shall be made which would either discriminate between the owners and occupiers of Holy Places, religious buildings and sites, or would place such owners and occupiers in a position less favourable in relation to the general incidence of that form of taxation that existed on 14 May 1948.

SOURCE: Documents on the Foreign Policy of Israel, vol.5, 1950, ed. Yehoshua Freundlich Jerusalem: Israel State Archives, 1988, 146-53 [doc.112]; parts reproduced in Adam Garfinkle, Israel and Jordan in the Shadow of War: Functional Ties and Futile Diplomacy in a Small Place, New York: St. Martin’s, 1992, Appendix D, 199–204.