JERUSALEM — Israel and Jordan moved closer to signing a peace treaty Wednesday, when Israel's Parliament overwhelmingly endorsed a declaration ending the state of war between the two nations and King Hussein flew over Israeli airspace for the first time en route home from Britain.
As a trio of Israeli F-16 fighter planes escorted Hussein's private jet, piloted by the king, on its brief journey across Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin radioed the airborne monarch, informing him of the Knesset vote.
"I'm very happy indeed to learn from you of the welcome that the Washington declaration has received in the Knesset," Hussein said. "To the people of Israel, we send our best wishes and our prayers for peace. Shalom."
"Your Majesty, I see you now. Your plane is over me," Rabin replied as the king's plane roared over the coastal town of Herzliya. The prime minister was there, sitting outside an officers' school and using an army radio. Hussein flew so low that people on the streets could see the Jordanian crown on the tail of his jet.
"What is your impression of Tel Aviv, Your Majesty?" the normally taciturn Rabin asked Hussein playfully.
"Beautiful city," Hussein replied.
"Your Majesty, thank you very much. I hope that in your flight over Jerusalem you will see the tremendous development of this holy city," Rabin said. "I hope that this city will be the city of peace for the future of all the peoples in the region."
"That is, indeed, our dearest hope, and we will do everything we can to achieve peace in our region," Hussein said.
Moments later, he streaked across the sky above Jerusalem's Old City, which Hussein lost in battle to the Israelis in the 1967 Middle East War.
The conversation, broadcast live on Israel Radio, provided an electrifying cap to a day devoted to Israeli-Jordanian peacemaking.
As lawmakers spent the day debating the Washington declaration, Israeli and Jordanian negotiators worked feverishly to complete details to open a border crossing above the twin ports of Aqaba and Eilat, at the southernmost tip of each country.
Israel Radio reported that crews already were tearing down chain-link and barbed-wire fencing separating the two countries in the south.
Rabin hopes to join Hussein and U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher on Monday in inaugurating the crossing. It will initially be used only by tourists carrying passports other than Israeli or Jordanian. But Rabin expressed hope Wednesday that, soon, Israelis and Jordanians will cross the border freely.
"Ours is a great privilege today to be witness and partner to beautiful moments in Israel's history," Rabin said, as he sought the 120-seat Parliament's endorsement of the agreement he signed last week in Washington with Hussein.
Israeli President Ezer Weizman, Supreme Court Chief Justice Meir Shamgar and dozens of dignitaries were present for the occasion.
Despite reservations expressed by some opposition members about the special status that the document recognizes for Jordan in administering Jerusalem's Muslim holy sites, the non-binding endorsement passed by a 91-3 vote with two abstentions; 24 lawmakers were not present.
Rabin passionately restated his government's commitment to maintaining Jerusalem as Israel's undivided capital and insisted that the Washington declaration only recognizes Jordan's existing role in caring for the Temple Mount and the Muslim shrines there.
"This government, like all those which preceded it, believes that there are no disagreements in this chamber over the eternalness of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel," he said. "The whole, unified Jerusalem was and will be until the end of time the capital of the Israeli people, under Israeli sovereignty, a center for the longings and dreams of every Jew."
Jerusalem, Rabin said, "is not to be bargained for," brushing aside the insistence of PLO chief Yasser Arafat that talks between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization over the status of the city--holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians--should begin immediately.
It was a triumphant day for Rabin, who has withstood withering criticism from the government's chief opposition, the nationalist Likud Party, over his dealings with the PLO and who has battled public sentiment strongly opposed to relinquishing the strategic Golan Heights to Syria.
The Washington declaration offered Rabin a rare chance to appear as leader of a united country, heading confidently toward making peace with its neighbors.
"The four pages placed on the Knesset's table today are the essence of the dream of peace between Israel and Jordan, which will become in the coming days, we all believe and hope, a full peace treaty," he said. "We no longer have a doubt in our hearts that the Arab peoples are joining us on the path to peace."
No members of Likud voted against the declaration, although two abstained.
