The draft resolution, approved by the government today, Wednesday, comes under the directives of Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah II to reactivate the National Service Program, as reported by the Jordanian news outlet, Ammon. The agency highlighted Prime Minister Jaafar Hassan’s confirmation that the program will begin implementation in February of next year in cooperation with the Jordanian Armed Forces, with necessary resources allocated from this year’s emergency expenses and the 2026 budget.
The draft law includes new legal updates related to the activation of the program, including the regulation of deferment cases for residents outside the kingdom, who must return to service once the reason for deferment ends. It also enables the provision of training programs for conscripts at its centers and institutes, allowing educational institutions to count them towards university study requirements according to instructions issued by the Cabinet.
Furthermore, the draft law stipulates the cancellation of provisions that previously granted National Service graduates priority in appointments within ministries, government institutions, and the private sector. The government affirmed its aim to align the National Service Program with the current phase’s requirements and ensure its implementation within a legal and regulatory framework consistent with its developmental and societal goals.
In an exclusive to Sputnik, political expert and former Jordanian minister Dr. Ameen Mashaqbeh confirmed that the decision to reactivate the National Service (mandatory conscription) in Jordan is a necessary step in light of the threats and challenges facing the region, most notably the Israeli expansionist ambitions. He explained that the National Service experience in Jordan is not new; it is part of the kingdom’s history since the 1950s and was suspended in 1991.
The Israeli threats, settlement expansion, and ongoing ambitions in the region necessitated a reconsideration of this decision. Recently, popular and political voices in the country have called for the reactivation of the National Service, amid the escalation of Israeli military operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and statements from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussing his vision of what he calls “Greater Israel.”
