alternatehistory.com

Yea, I know there are plenty of POD's dealing with this, but I haven't seen this one before...


In reading up on the 1967, I recently learned that the West Bank was administered by (Trans)Jordan up until… well, the Israeli’s kicked them out in the Six-Day War.
The outcome of the Israeli offensive is impressive, to say the least (and won't be tampered with here); so what if we were to change the combatants?

Correct me if I’m wrong, but King Hussein gave in to internal pressure to sign a defensive agreement with Nasser. Within a day of the air offensive beginning, the Jordanians were shelling Jerusalem, and they entered the war. The rest is history.

So, I got to thinking: What if Hussein hadn’t given in whole-hog to internal Palestinian pressure and only made a public show of support for Pan-Arab sentiment, big, fancy speech, and so on. He might not receive the insane welcome of OTL, but he would likely buy enough time.

Next, let’s assume that intel as to just how badly the Israeli’s had beaten the Egyptians get’s to the Jordanians. Such as… they properly ID jets over Israel as Israeli, rather than mistaking them for Egyptian.

So, when things do kick off, we have the Jordanians standing ready, but NOT firing the first shot. Israel still goes after Egypt and Syria, but Jordan?

Would Israel have broken the under-the-table agreement and not gone after Jordan/the West Bank? Would there have been internal collapse if Jordanian-Palestinians see the army holding back?

The pacific in me is inclined to think that the Israelis would have held back; honored the agreement, and not invaded the West Bank.
As such, the Green Line would have held, and the West Bank would have either stayed Jordanian, or eventually gained some autonomy. Perhaps a brighter future?

Thoughts?
Top