Jordan is Palestine

   A philosophy espoused mainly by the political right in Israel that viewed the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan as a Palestinian state. From this perspective, the Balfour Declaration and the League of Nations mandate for Palestine (see BRITISH MANDATE FOR PALESTINE) applied to areas on both sides of the Jordan River, and Great Britain's decisions to unilaterally separate the area east of the river from the mandate and to establish Transjor-dan in the early 1920s were illegitimate. Revisionist Zionists viewed the Zionist leadership's acceptance of this state of affairs as a capitulation. Nationalist Zionists continued to contend that the Arab demand for a Palestinian state was unnecessary, inasmuch as one already existed in Jordan. Hence, there was no need for another Palestinian state west of the Jordan River, where Israel was located. This view was never accepted by either the Palestinian leadership or the king of Jordan. In renouncing Jordan's claim to the West Bank in July 1988, King Hussein specifically noted that "Jordan is not Palestine." With the Israel-Palestine Liberation Organization Declaration of Principles and the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty, the "Jordan Is Palestine" argument lost much of its appeal among average Israelis.