Al Ghamr

Al Ghamr’s role in Israeli–Jordanian relations centered on an arrangement that combined Jordanian sovereignty with continued Israeli agricultural use of land across the border.[3] The arrangement enabled Israeli farmers to continue cultivating the area after its return to Jordanian sovereignty and remained mostly stable for 25 years.[5]

The area lies in the southern Arava and is identified in the treaty as “Zofar/Al-Ghamr.”[3] Its Arabic name also appears as Ghumar or Ghamar, while Hebrew transliterations include Tzofar and Zofar.[1] Annex I(c) of the peace treaty defined its boundary by reference to a 1:20,000 Emek Ha’arava/Wadi Araba orthophoto map in Appendix V.[3]

Tzofar’s farming community developed agricultural plots east of the border over time, using land on the Jordanian side before the 1994 treaty.[6] The settlement’s founding group reached its current location in the early 1980s.[6] Israeli cultivation of the agricultural territories at Al Ghamr and the separate northern area of Baqoura extended back to 1949.[2]

In negotiating peace, Jordan sought to establish the international border and restore Jordanian sovereignty over areas beyond it, while the eventual special regime allowed Israeli farmers to continue cultivating returned land, including Tzofar/Ghamr.[5] On January 30, 1995, the Israel Defense Forces completed the first of two negotiated withdrawals from Jordanian territory, evacuating a 170-kilometer stretch from the Eilat/Aqaba crossing to the Al Ghamr region in Wadi al-‘Araba.[7] The second phase was completed on February 10, after which Jordan re-established sovereignty in the areas.[7] The agricultural arrangement granted Tsofar conditional cultivation rights over 2,000 dunams for 25 years without compensation to Jordan, with the land remaining subject to Jordanian law.[7]

On October 21, 2018, King Abdullah II announced that Jordan would not renew the treaty annexes concerning Al Ghamr and Al Baqoura.[1][2] Jordan’s foreign minister also sent formal notice to his Israeli counterpart.[8] In October 2019, Israeli officials were still seeking a delay, while Jordanian officials maintained that the nonrenewal decision was final.[9] Efforts to negotiate renewal failed, and Jordan ended the arrangement on November 10, 2019.[2] Israel expressed regret at the termination, and Jordanian law thereafter applied in full rather than subject to the special regime.[10]

The end of the treaty regime did not immediately end all farming access.[4] Jordan permitted farmers to harvest crops already planted but prohibited new planting.[10] A November 2019 report described an informal understanding allowing cultivation through April 2020 rather than a formal agreement.[11] During the additional harvesting period, farmers had to obtain visas and enter through official border crossings instead of using the former free-access arrangements.[4] The additional period ended on the evening of April 30, 2020.[4]

Annex I(c) expressly recognized Jordanian sovereignty over Al Ghamr alongside Israeli private land-use rights.[3] Jordan undertook to permit the Israeli rights holders, their invitees, and their employees to enter, leave, use the land, and move within the area without charge.[3] Direct crossings from Israel for agricultural or other agreed purposes were exempt from Jordanian customs and immigration legislation, and Jordan committed to protecting people entering under the annex from harassment or harm.[3]

The land users could dispose of their land in accordance with applicable Jordanian law, while acquisitions by people who were not Israeli citizens required Jordan’s prior approval.[12] Jordan also undertook not to impose discriminatory taxes or charges on the land or activities within the area.[12]

Jordanian law applied, but Israel could apply its laws concerning extraterritorial activities to Israelis and their activities in the area.[3] Jordan agreed not to apply its criminal laws to activities involving only Israeli nationals.[3] Uniformed Israeli police officers could enter with minimal formality to investigate crimes or address incidents involving only the Israeli land users, their invitees, or employees.[12]

Israel undertook not to permit activities prejudicial to Jordan’s peace or security.[3] People entering under the annex could not carry weapons without authorization from Jordanian licensing authorities, processed through the liaison committee, and waste from outside the area could not be dumped there.[12]

The regime was set to last 25 years and renew automatically for further 25-year periods unless either party gave one year’s prior notice of termination.[3] After notice, either party could request consultations.[3] An Israeli–Jordanian Liaison Committee was established to address matters arising under the annex.[12]

The land east of the border attracted Tzofar farmers because it was more fertile than land on the Israeli side, benefited from flood runoff from the Edom Mountains, and had fresher groundwater.[6] Farmers from Moshav Tzofar cultivated the area, including high-maintenance irrigated crops.[10][13]

A 2020 account identified 39 Tzofar families with agricultural plots in the enclave and reported an Israeli government compensation package of NIS 36 million.[6] The package included the value of alternative land allocated several kilometers north of the settlement, although many farmers had not yet received their replacement plots at the time of publication.[6]

Published measurements distinguish neither consistently nor conclusively between the whole enclave and cultivated land.[6][13] The early treaty analysis gave the cultivation area as 2,000 dunams, while a later account described the southern Zofar region as approximately 500 acres.[7][14] A Jordanian Foreign Ministry source gave Al Ghamr’s area as 4,235 dunams.[8] Other reporting put the enclave at 4,500 dunams, including 1,100 cultivated dunams.[6] A November 2019 report cited 31 farmers working 1,500 dunams.[11] A separate report described Tzofar farmers as working 1,200 dunams, or 296.5 acres.[13]

Jordan’s decision generated disagreement over the expectations surrounding the peace treaty: some Israelis regarded termination as contrary to its spirit, while Jordan possessed the treaty right not to renew the regime.[5] The announcement was celebrated in Jordan as a reassertion of national rights.[15] The legal distinction remained between sovereignty, which the treaty already recognized as Jordanian, and the special Israeli agricultural access and land-use rights that ended in 2019.[3][2]

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi distinguished Al Ghamr from Al Baqoura in remarks to Jordan’s parliament, describing Al Ghamr as Jordanian state-owned land and Al Baqoura as including privately owned Israeli land.[16] At Al Ghamr, the practical consequences for Israeli farmers included the loss of the treaty’s free-access arrangements, a limited final harvesting period, and the need for replacement agricultural land.[4][6]