Naharayim (Hebrew: נַהֲרַיִים; lit. 'Two Rivers'), historically the Jisr Majami area (Arabic: جسر المجامع; lit. 'Meeting Bridge area'), is the area where the Yarmouk River flows into the Jordan River. It was the site of the "First Jordan Hydro-Electric Power House", constructed between 1927–33, and located near an ancient Roman bridge known as Jisr Majami. The site was named by the Palestine Electric Company which assigned "proper names" to the "different quarters of our Jordan Works", one of these being the "works as a whole including the labour camp" to be called "Naharaim", and another being the site of the "Power House and the adjoining staff quarters, offices" to be called "Tel Or" (Hebrew: תל אור; lit. 'Hill of Light'). Most of the plant was situated in the Emirate of Transjordan and stretched from the northern canal near Kibbutz Ashdot Ya'akov in northern Mandatory Palestine to the Jisr el-Majami in the south. The plant, now no longer in use, was built by Pinhas Rutenberg. It produced much of the energy consumed in Mandatory Palestine, until the 1948 Palestine war. The channels and dams built for the power plant, together with the two rivers, formed a man-made island. The residential area is known today as Qaryet Jisr Al-Majame (Arabic: قرية جسر المجامع - Community Bridge Village). The 1994 Israel–Jordan peace treaty recognized part of the area – known as the Naharayim/Baqura Area in the treaty or, according to the map annexed to the treaty and authenticated by both Israel and Jordan, the Baqura/Naharayim area – to be under Jordanian sovereignty, but leased Israeli landowners freedom of entry. The 25-year renewable lease ended in 2019. The Jordanian government announced its intention to end the lease; the treaty gives Jordan the right to do so only on one condition – that one year prior notice is given, which coincided with the announcement in October 2018. Jordan reclaimed Al-Baqoura in November 2019 after a one-year notice of termination submitted by the Jordanian government.
History
Jisr al Majami
Historically the only structure in the area was the Roman bridge of Jisr Majami. A railway bridge was built parallel to it in the early 20th century to carry the Jezreel Valley railway, opened in 1905. The bridge played a strategic role in World War I; it was taken by the 19th Lancers during the Capture of Afulah and Beisan. When the Rutenberg concession was given, it was defined as the area around Jisr Majami.
Hydroelectric power station
Pinhas Rutenberg, a Russian-born Zionist and engineer immigrated to Palestine in 1919. After submitting a plan to the Zionist movement for the establishment of 13 hydroelectric power stations and securing financing for the plan, he was awarded a concession from the British Mandatory government to generate electricity, first from the Yarkon River near Tel Aviv, and shortly thereafter, utilizing all the running water in western Palestine. Naharayim is part of 6,000 dunams (600 ha) sold to the Palestine Electric Corporation (PEC) run by Pinhas Rutenberg. The Naharayim site was chosen for the strong water flow and the possibility of regulating the flow through storage in the Sea of Galilee during the winter rainy season and release of the water reserves in the summer. Construction began in 1927 and continued for five years, providing employment for 3,000 workers. The site was named Naharayim, Hebrew for "Two Rivers."
Workers' village
A residential neighborhood was built near the plant to house employees. It was the only Jewish village in Transjordan at the time. It was designated for residence of the permanent employees of the power plant and their families, aiming to create an agricultural village at the Eastern border of the Land of Israel. Employees of the power station also farmed thousands of dunams of land and sold some of the produce at a company workers' supermarket in Haifa. Due to its relative isolation and despite the limited number of resident families, the village included a clinic, a kindergarten, and even a school, established by Yosef Hanani for the children of employees. The families of the employees at Tel Or were evacuated from the settlement in April 1948, leaving behind only workers with Jordanian ID cards. Following a prolonged battle between Palestinian Jewish forces and the Transjordanian Arab Legion in the area, the remaining residents of Tel Or were given an ultimatum to surrender or leave the village. Tel Or was abandoned by the residents, who were evacuated to Jewish-controlled areas across the river. During the 1948 War, 70 Palestinian Arab families from a village just meters away on the Palestinian side of the Jordan River populated the abandoned site.
1947/8 diplomacy In the lead up to the End of the British Mandate for Palestine and Israeli independence, Naharayim was the venue for a meeting between Golda Meir and King Abdullah on 17 November 1947. There was a second meeting in Amman on 10 May 1948, after the Gesher incident (see below), in an attempt by the Jewish leadership to head off Jordanian participation in the war.
1948 war
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