It is common in the Arab world to blame the nation-state of Israel and the Jewish people on society’s ills. From unemployment to terrorism, you can bet Israel will be one of the top scapegoats. For example, Saudi King Salman blames Israel’s Mossad for being responsible for 9/11. The country of Jordan is no exception. Even though at times considered a ‘moderate’ Arab partner by the West, the Jordanian government is still heavily influenced by Islamist actors such as Saudi Arabia.

In an interview last week, Jordan’s Royal Court Chief Fayez Tarawneh spoke about the issue of terrorism in the region and how Jordan seeks to remedy the problem. Tarawneh reiterated Jordan’s “holistic approach” to terrorism, one facet of which deals with the image of Islam (largely because of Hashemite lineage). Of course Tarawneh brought up the Palestinian issue (Palestinian statehood, refugee resettlement, etc.). An excerpt from The Jordan Times of Tarawneh’s interview reveals how much emphasis the Jordanian Kingdom places on the Arab-Israeli conflict.

On the Palestinian issue and the international community’s understanding of His Majesty’s emphasis that a peaceful solution to this conflict is a prerequisite to regional peace and stability, the Royal Court Chief stressed that the King does not leave any conference, assembly or meeting without talking about the centrality of the Palestinian issue, which is a recruitment tool for extremists.

Jordan has a major stake in the Arab/Israeli conflict not only because of its resolve to defend Islam and its strategic alliances with Arab neighbors, but also because Jordan’s population has a large segment of Palestinians. This, coupled with the high number of refugees in Jordan (unemployment of Jordan averages around 13%) puts great pressure on the Jordanian Kingdom to placate their demands. Taking all of this into consideration still doesn’t excuse Jordan for spreading the myth that solving the Palestinian issue will bring peace to the region. This ignores the broader religious (Sunni, Shi’a, Alawite, Zoroastrian, Druze, Christian, Jewish etc.) and ethnic (Arab, Persian, Turkish, Kurdish, etc.) rivalries and complexities between various groups in the region. Also, settling all the Palestinian refugees would not appease actors such as Iran’s mullahs, ISIS, Hamas, and Hezbollah when they repeatedly challenge the very legitimacy of a Jewish state in the Middle East. Terrorists may use the Palestinian problem as a recruitment tool for jihad but solving the Palestinian issue will not end Islamic terrorism in the region.

This regional strategy has clouded Jordan’s judgement on several occasions. One occasion is when Jordan spearheaded Palestinian statehood legislation to the U.N. without Israel’s consent. The legislation would have eliminated Israeli forces from Palestinian areas by 2017, and forced a two-state solution with East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. Another example deals with Jordanian officials accusing Israel of state terrorism. One notable instance is in October of 2015, after a series of random attacks and increased tensions regarding the Temple Mount, the Jordanian Parliament issued a scathing accusation toward Israel.

“The Israeli enemy, sapping the rights of the Palestinians on their own lands… and over their holy places, is exercising state terrorism before the eyes of the whole world.”

In conclusion, Jordan knows about the threat of terrorism and is trying to address it. However, when it comes to solving the overall problems of the region, Jordan’s calculus is skewed. If the West were to follow Jordan’s lead into solving the Palestinian issue it would ultimately due so at Israel’s expense. In order to defeat jihad, King Abdullah II needs another strategy.