Israelis grieve for King Hussein as they recall his path of peace

JERUSALEM, Feb. 7 (JTA) — Israelis around the country lit candles in their homes. Some even braved the bad weather to light candles outside the Jordanian Embassy near Tel Aviv. By government decree, the Israeli flag was flown at half-mast to symbolize the nation’s grief over the death of Jordan’s King Hussein. Indeed, Sunday’s death of the 63-year-old monarch united Israelis in a way reminiscent of the mourning that engulfed the nation following the November 1995 assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. As Kinneret Elhanani, a tour guide, said while lighting a candle for the king on Sunday: “For me, he was like a brother. We have always liked him, even when he was considered our enemy.” In the hours following the announcement that the king had succumbed to lymphatic cancer, Israeli media devoted special programming to his legacy and radio stations played somber music. All of this outpouring of affection came for a man who, until 1994, led a state that was officially at war with Israel. But with their grieving, Israelis demonstrated that King Hussein wouldn’t be remembered for the tensions that existed between the two nations for so many years, but for the efforts the king made to bring the two countries together. Why do Israelis feel such warmth for their former enemy? In part, because in the past few years, Hussein gave his country’s 1994 peace treaty with Israel his touch of personal warmth that was lacking in the peace with Egypt. Nowhere was this more evident than two years ago, when Hussein visited the town of Beit Shemesh to pay his condolences to the bereaved families of the Naharayim massacre, in which seven school girls were murdered by a Jordanian soldier close to the border. In an act of contrition many Israelis will never forget, Hussein knelt before the parents of the girls and begged for forgiveness. One of the bereaved parents came up to him and said: “You are our king, too.” Diplomats, politicians and army officials were also struck by Hussein’s personal, human touch. Shimon Shamir, Israel’s first ambassador to Jordan, recalled that during their first meeting, Hussein gave him his private telephone number and urged Shamir to call whenever he deemed it necessary. They met together five or six times in informal meetings, with Hussein often coming dressed casually to exchange ideas with the ambassador. Only at times of disagreement with Israel did Hussein summon Shamir to his official office for a formal meeting. “Above all, I was impressed by his sincerity and human charm,” recalled Shamir, a noted Middle East historian. Israelis also feel warmth for the king because even when he was at war with Israel, he shattered the stereotype of the Arab who hates Israel and wants its destruction. Even as far back as Israel’s stunning victory in the 1967 Six-Day War, in which Jordan was aligned with Syria and Egypt against the Jewish state, Israelis had a soft spot for the king. This week, Israel’s top humorist Ephraim Kishon, who coined Hussein’s affectionate nickname “Hussi” that year, explained that even then, “we did not really regard him as an enemy.” Indeed, in 1973, on the eve of the Yom Kippur War, Hussein even flew to Israel to warn its leaders
that Arab armies were planning a surprise attack. Reserve Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Shaked, who arranged secret meetings between Hussein and then-Prime Minister Golda Meir between the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War, recalled their first meeting. Shaked was the first one to greet the king, who showed up with his speed boat at the agreed-upon spot. “As soon as I spotted him, I saw a small man, who looked me in the eye, as if he was my height.” On another occasion, Shaked drove Hussein by jeep to meet with Meir. “He sat next to me as if I had been his driver for 200 years, never looking to the sides, but looking straight ahead with confidence,” Shaked recalled. The king was also remembered for his sense of humor. Former Prime Minister Shimon Peres recalled how during secret talks with Hussein in London in 1987, when Peres was foreign minister in a national unity government, the British notable who was hosting the two leaders sent home all the servants to preserve secrecy. After dinner, Peres recalled, Hussein turned to Peres and said, “And now, let’s do the dishes.” The king also transcended some of the divisions in Israeli politics — even after his death. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited his two chief rival candidates for prime minister in the May 17 elections — his former defense minister, Yitzhak Mordechai, and Labor Party leader Ehud Barak — as well as former prime ministers Peres and Yitzhak Shamir to join Netanyahu at Hussein’s funeral on Monday. Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon was also scheduled to attend. Netanyahu called a special Cabinet meeting to mark the king’s death, and the ministers observed a moment of silence. In a special news conference, Netanyahu said, “Every Israeli — right, center, left, up, down — cherishes this man, views him as a Jordanian patriot but also as a champion of peace, a genuine peace between Israel and Jordan.” The prime minister recalled Hussein’s pivotal role at the Wye talks in October, when he helped Israel and the Palestinians overcome the obstacles that were preventing an agreement. “The peace between our peoples will be a testament to your abiding belief in lasting peace among the sons of Abraham,” Netanyahu said. Israeli President Ezer Weizman called the king “one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century, a brave soldier who fought for peace, a clever man, warm-hearted and the symbol of good neighborly relations.” For their part, Palestinians did not share the same scope of grief as the Israelis. The Palestinian Authority did declare a three-day mourning period to mark Hussein’s death, and the self-rule government called Hussein a statesmen who had served the just cause of his people and the cause of the Palestinians. Even the militant Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin conveyed condolences to Jordan on the king’s death. But many Palestinians cannot forget 1970, when Hussein threw the Palestine Liberation Organization out of Jordan in a series of bloody confrontations known as Black September. But Israelis felt much differently. Eitan Haber, adviser to the late Rabin, spoke for many when he said: “Shalom enemy, shalom lover, shalom your majesty the king.”