The Jordanian state is in danger of buckling as refugees flood into the country from Syria, adding to economic and social pressures. The international community has to focus on two strategic goals: holding together the Hashemite kingdom’s political elite, and keeping the country’s borders open to refugees. The alternative, the collapse of the only Arab country regime with a resident ambassador in Israel, would spell the death knell of any negotiated peace settlement between Palestinians and Israelis.

Watching from the sidelines as Israeli bombs hit Gaza, the kingdom’s domestic critics – including the local branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and disgruntled Palestinians, who make up almost half of Jordan’s population – grew bolder, calling for King Abdullah II to sever ties with Israel. This is unlikely to happen just yet, but the Brotherhood has already managed to strong-arm the king into restoring ties with Hamas. Now the group is set to use the Gaza conflict to ply greater concessions from the palace.

For the first time since the early 1970s, when Palestinian militant groups tried to topple the monarchy, demonstrators in Jordan have called for revolution rather than just reform.

Read the article in full at Haaretz.