Polls open in Jordan, with Islamists expected to make gains amid anger over Gaza war
Parliamentary elections take place under new law aimed at diluting tribalism, which could bolster Islamist parties in cities mostly inhabited by Palestinian-Jordanians
Polls opened on Tuesday in Jordan’s first parliamentary elections under a new law aimed at diluting the strong impact of tribalism and bolstering political parties, with Islamists expected to gain support due to anger over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
The election comes two days after a terrorist from Jordan killed three Israeli civilians at the Allenby Bridge border crossing on Sunday before security forces shot him dead.
Thousands of Jordanians celebrated on the streets of Amman on Sunday night, claiming the gunman had avenged the deaths of thousands of Palestinians in the war in Gaza.
It was the first attack of its kind along the border with Jordan since October 7, when the Palestinian terror group Hamas carried out a massacre in southern Israel, killing 1,200 and kidnapping 251 — sparking the ongoing war in Gaza that has escalated throughout the region.
In a country where anti-Israel sentiment runs high, the Gaza war is expected to help the electoral fortunes of the Islamists, the country’s largest opposition, who have led some of the region’s biggest rallies backing Hamas, their ideological allies.
The 2022 electoral law is meant to pave the way for political parties to play a bigger role in a voting system that favors sparsely populated tribal and provincial regions over the densely populated cities mostly inhabited by Jordanians of Palestinian descent, which are Islamic strongholds and highly politicized.
The new law for the first time directly allocates 41 seats for over 30 licensed and mostly pro-government parties. It also raised the quota for women’s representation to 18 from 15 seats and lowered the age for elected deputies to 25 from 30.
Of Jordan’s 11 million people, 5.1 million are registered voters aged over 18. There are 1,623 candidates, including 353 women, competing for seats in 18 districts.
While the election is still expected to keep the 138-seat parliament in the hands of tribal and pro-government factions, Jordan’s main opposition, buoyed by anger over the Gaza war, said it expects its Islamists to win enough seats to loudly challenge the country’s pro-Western stance.
The opposition Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, says its voice is needed in the assembly to help reverse unpopular economic policies, stand up to laws curbing public freedoms, and oppose further normalization with Israel.
The terror attack that killed three Israelis at the Allenby Bridge Crossing on Sunday took place in a commercial cargo area under Israeli control where Jordanian trucks offload cargo entering the West Bank, officials said. The crossing lies about midway between Amman and Jerusalem just north of the Dead Sea.
It was carried out by a Jordanian truck driver who had arrived from Jordan.
According to the military and Israel Airports Authority officials — the latter of which manages the land crossing — the assailant got out of the truck he was driving during an inspection at the terminal and opened fire at several of the crossing’s workers.
IAA security guards returned fire at the terrorist, killing him.
The assailant was identified by Israeli security sources as Maher Dhiab Hussein al-Jazi, 39, a Jordanian national from the southern Jordan town of Udhruh, east of Petra.
شهيدنا ، ابو قدر ماهر ذياب الجازي الحويطي الأردني ????????
هذه صورته وما انتشر سابقآ ليس هو
ترحموا عليه و أدعوا له pic.twitter.com/tswzPpv6NA
— Osama Dmour (@OsamaDmour5) September 8, 2024
Terror groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad both welcomed the attack, with Hamas hailing the attacker as “one of Jordan’s brave men.”
The three victims were named Yohanan Shchori, 61, a father of six from the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Efraim, Yuri Birnbaum, 65, from the settlement of Na’ama, and Adrian Marcelo Podzamczer, from the settlement city of Ariel.
Jordan said it was investigating the shooting. The Allenby Bridge, a crucial crossing for trade between Jordan and Israel and one of five land border crossings between the two countries, was closed on Sunday, according to Israeli and Jordanian authorities.
Representatives from the Shin Bet and IDF met with their Jordanian counterparts at the crossing on Sunday evening to coordinate continued operations after the attack, according to the Kan broadcaster.
Amman issued a meager condemnation of the attack on Sunday evening. The crossing then reopened to pedestrians on Monday morning but remained closed to trucks.
Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in 1994 and have close security ties. Dozens of trucks cross daily from Jordan, with goods from Jordan and the Gulf that supply both the West Bank and Israeli markets.
