Jordan’s parliament on Monday voted in favor of a law reinstating conscription for men from early next year, decades after compulsory military service ended, state media reported.
Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah II in August announced the reinstatement of conscription — repealed in 1991 — to “prepare young men to be ready to serve the country and defend it”.
The government then referred the law to parliament for a vote.
Following approval, it is now set to be ratified by the Senate and then sent to the king for approval.
The official Petra news agency reported that the House of Representatives overwhelmingly “approved an amended law for national and reserve service” during its session on Monday.
The session was attended by Prime Minister Jafar Hassan, who was quoted as saying that the law “will be among the government’s priorities in the upcoming period, in preparation for its implementation at the beginning of February next year”.
Government spokesman Mohammed al-Momani had previously said the conscription program targeted the recruitment of 6,000 men who would have completed 18 years of age by next February.
He added that the penalty for failing to report for military service would be between three months and one year in prison.
The government ultimately aims to conscript 10,000 men annually.
Jordan ended conscription in 1991, just three years before it signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994.
Momani denied that the conscription law was related to remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in August in which he appeared to voice support for the idea of a “Greater Israel”.
The term Greater Israel refers to a biblical interpretation of the nation’s territory during the time of King Solomon, encompassing not only the present-day Palestinian territories of Gaza and the occupied West Bank, but also parts of other countries including Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.