| Allenby Bridge King Hussein Bridge | |
| Carries: | Pedestrians, vehicles |
| Crosses: | Jordan River |
| Traffic: | 3200 pedestrians and 33 trucks (2007) |
| Begin: | 1918 |
| Rebuilt: | 1968, 1994 |
| Open: | 1994 |
| Mapframe-Caption: | Location of the Allenby Bridge at West Bank-Jordan border |
The Allenby Bridge (Hebrew: גשר אלנבי|Gesher Allenby), known officially in Jordan as the King Hussein Bridge (Arabic: جسر الملك حسين|Jisr al-Malek Hussein), and also called the Bridge (Arabic: جسر الكرامة) or simply (Arabic: rtl=yes|الجسر,) by Palestinian Arabs,[1] is a bridge that crosses the Jordan River near the city of Jericho in the West Bank and the town of Al-Karameh in Jordan.
The bridge is currently the only official border crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, and is the sole designated exit/entry point for West Bank Palestinians travelling abroad by land.
Being 381m (1,250feet) below sea level, it is the lowest fixed water crossing in the world.
In 1885 the Ottoman government of the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem built a bridge at this site.[2]
In 1918 British general Edmund Allenby built a bridge over the remnant of the Ottoman predecessor.[2] The 1922 census lists 12 people (8 Christians and 4 Muslims) living at the bridge.[3] It was first destroyed by the 1927 Jericho earthquake, when it fell apart and collapsed into the river.[4] The 1931 census lists 13 people (11 Muslims and 2 Christians) living at the bridge.[5]
It was destroyed again in the Night of the Bridges operation by the Palmach on 16 June 1946, thus severing one of the main overland connections between Mandatory Palestine and Transjordan. The next destruction occurred during the 1967 Six-Day War, after which was replaced in 1968 with a temporary truss-type bridge. In 1994, subsequent to the Israel-Jordan peace treaty, a new modern paved crossing was constructed adjacent to the older wooden one with the aid of the Japanese government.[6]
Since the 1994 Israel–Jordan peace treaty, the Allenby Bridge Terminal has been operated by the Israel Airports Authority.[7] It serves as a border crossing between the west and east banks of the Jordan River. The Jordanian authorities recognize the bridge as an international border entry point, but neither Jordan nor Israel grant entry visas to foreign passport holders at this crossing, unlike the country's other border crossings with Israel,[8] nor stamp the passports of departing travelers.[9] Palestinians traveling abroad can use the Allenby Bridge to exit the West Bank into Jordan and then use the Queen Alia International Airport in Amman to fly abroad. Travel permits from both Israeli and Jordanian authorities are required, with varied stringency depending on the prevailing political situation.
Israeli citizens are not permitted to use the terminal, except Israeli Muslims making a pilgrimage to Mecca to perform the Hajj and Umrah. Such pilgrims were allowed to use the Allenby Bridge crossing for the first time in 1978, after Jordan and Saudi Arabia permitted Israeli Arabs to join the hajj in 1977.[10] [11] Tourists who wish to travel to Jordan may have to be in possession of a visa from Jordan in advance, depending on their nationality. Tourists and inhabitants of East Jerusalem may travel directly to an Israeli terminal, although Palestinians from the West Bank have to start the departure procedure at the special Palestinian border terminal in Jericho city.
The Jordanian side of the bridge has a branch of the Bank of Jordan for the exchange of currencies.[12]
The Allenby crossing is the locus of a 1971 song by Nurit Hirsh, Gesher Bailey (Bailey bridge - referring to the temporary truss bridge) sung by Yehoram Gaon.
