Three learning paths about water, borders and security: what the treaty says, who needs to act, and how to check what happened. Choose one path for your learners.
The paths are alternatives, not a required sequence. The existing 25-minute activity can serve as an introduction; these paths move on to mechanisms and evidence. Assess accuracy, the link between source and claim, and recognition of what remains unknown.
The Washington Declaration of 25 July 1994 preceded the treaty signed on 26 October, which entered into force on 10 November. Beyond the ceremony, rules, professionals and ways to handle disputes are needed. Three examples help us ask: what needs to happen the next morning?
White House · Washington Declaration ceremony, 25 July 1994 · UN Treaty Collection · Registration 35325Article 6 and Annex II address water allocation, quality and information-sharing. The annex establishes a Joint Water Committee with three representatives from each country.
Israel–Jordan Peace Treaty, 26 October 1994 · FAOLEX copyPause and think: If two teams measure different quantities in the same river, which data and measurement methods should they compare before deciding who is right?
Article 3 and Annex I define the boundary; Article 13 addresses roads and crossings. The treaty does not settle the status of territories that came under Israeli military government control in 1967.
Israel–Jordan Peace Treaty, 26 October 1994 · FAOLEX copyPause and think: How does agreeing where a border lies differ from deciding who may cross it, and when?
Article 4 includes commitments to refrain from force, prevent violence and terrorism, and cooperate. It also provides for a consultation mechanism including liaison, verification and supervision.
Israel–Jordan Peace Treaty, 26 October 1994 · FAOLEX copyPause and think: Why is an agreed way to establish the facts especially important when the parties disagree?
The special regimes at Naharayim/Baqura and Zofar/Al Ghamr were set for 25 years, with automatic renewal unless notice of termination was given a year in advance. The annexes recognised Jordanian sovereignty alongside private land rights. On 21 October 2018, the Royal Hashemite Court announced that Israel had been notified of the decision to terminate them; on 10 November 2019, the King announced their expiry.
Israel–Jordan Peace Treaty, 26 October 1994 · FAOLEX copy · Royal Hashemite Court · Notice on Baqura and Al Ghamr annexes, 21 October 2018 · Royal Hashemite Court · Speech from the Throne, 10 November 2019What can the terms and announcements establish, and what else is needed to understand the effects on people?
These are educational paraphrases, not quotations or an official text. The sources document commitments and dated events; they do not verify the relationship today. Present-day claims require a current source and a check date.
Grades 4–6 · approximately ages 9–12 · 30 minutes
What will we learn? Connect a human need, an agreed rule, an action and a way to check it.
What do we need? The three water, border and security cards; paper for writing or drawing. Read the adapted text aloud and show the article reference.
Choose a card and identify a human need: water, safe passage or protection from violence.
Suggest three actions that professionals would need to take. For each, write who is responsible and how you could check that it happened.
A fictional practice scenario, not a historical event: two teams get different results when testing water. Write two questions to investigate and suggest one joint test.
Share one action and one way to check it. You may submit a written response instead of speaking to the class.
Exit ticket: In the treaty we found a rule about ___. To carry it out, someone needs to ___. To check whether it happened, we would want to see ___.
Choose just one card if reading time is limited. Independent reading of the source or water-allocation calculations are not required.
Read aloud, allow a drawing with an explanation, or offer individual work. Assess the link between need, action and evidence, not a political position.
Grades 7–9 · approximately ages 12–15 · 45 minutes
What will we learn? Build a focused question and a research plan that distinguishes a commitment from its implementation.
What do we need? Choose a topic: water — Article 6 and Annex II; boundary and crossings — Articles 3 and 13; security — Article 4. Use the cards alongside the source.
Ask about a specific action, not simply whether there is peace. Locate the commitment, the mechanism and the article number.
List the evidence you would seek, the period it should cover and what it could not establish. If no source has been found, write ‘not yet checked’, not ‘not carried out’.
Another group asks: is this evidence of an action or only a promise? Does it cover the relevant period? Are the sources independent, or repeating the same announcement?
Write what the treaty establishes, what further evidence is needed and what cannot yet be concluded.
Exit ticket: The document requires ___. To check implementation, we would look for ___. We still could not conclude ___.
Prepare a table: commitment | mechanism | possible evidence | period | limitation. A research plan is sufficient; learners need not claim to have found current information.
Allow pairs or individual work. Assess the article reference, the fit between evidence and claim, and an identified limitation—not support for or opposition to the treaty.
Grades 10–12 · approximately ages 15–18 · 45 minutes
What will we learn? Distinguish disagreement, an allegation of breach, and termination under agreed terms; separate facts from judgements.
What do we need? The 2018–2019 case; Annexes I(b) and I(c), especially paragraph 6 in each; Article 29 of the treaty; the two Jordanian announcements.
For each source, record its creator, date, what it documents and what it cannot establish alone.
Find the duration, renewal and termination conditions, and the distinction between sovereignty and private rights. Identify dispute-resolution methods in Article 29.
Test two claims: ‘If an arrangement was not renewed, the whole treaty was cancelled’; ‘If termination was allowed by the text, it imposed no costs on people’. What is missing in each?
Write 120–150 words: a sourced fact, an interpretation labelled as such, a consideration affecting someone who may be impacted, and an open question.
Exit ticket: Label statements in your memo: F = fact, I = interpretation, V = value judgement. Add one further source needed to investigate the effects on people.
Provide both annexes, not just a news headline. Identify ownership rights at Naharayim/Baqura and rights of use at Zofar/Al Ghamr without merging the categories.
Distinguish sovereignty, ownership and use; and termination under an annex’s terms from an allegation of breach. Ending the special regime does not itself establish that the peace treaty was cancelled, that every private right disappeared, or that nobody experienced hardship. The two announcements come from the same party, not an independent assessment of all effects.
For a 15-minute extension, compare two measures of success. Offer writing instead of discussion. No ruling on a current legal dispute is required.
Articles 3, 4, 6, 13, 29; Annexes I(b), I(c), II. Text of the agreed terms and annexes.
Signed on 26 October 1994; entered into force on 10 November 1994 through exchange of instruments of ratification. UN registration in 1998 is a different event.
Official transcript: ending the state of belligerency and continuing negotiations towards a peace treaty.
One treaty party’s statement of its decision and notification to Israel.
Announces expiry of the Baqura and Al Ghamr annexes; includes an official English translation of the King’s speech.