Israel and Jordanend 46-year-old state of war

peace today on the lawn of the White House.

They signed their ''Washington Declaration' a few yards from the place

where Mr Rabin and Yasser Arafat made peace between Israel and the PLO

last September: that earlier event made today's ceremony possible.

The agreement ends the state of belligerency between the two countries

that has subsisted since the armies of the Arab League invaded Israel in

1948.

King Hussein remarked that there are no terms for ''state of

belligerency' in Arabic or Hebrew: ''What we have accomplished and are

committed to is the end of the state of war between Israel and Jordan,''

he added.

Today's declaration is an important first step towards a formal peace

treaty, whose terms are being negotiated by the two sides in meetings

held alternately in Israel and in Jordan.

The Washington Declaration thus corresponds to the Camp David

agreement signed by President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and the prime

minister of Israel, Menachem Begin, in the White House itself, in 1978.

The formal peace treaty between Israel and Egypt was signed by the two

men the following year, on the front lawn after further, difficult

negotiations.

Mr Rabin said today: ''My hope is that very soon we will return to

sign a permanent peace.''

Today's preliminary agreement provides some tangible fruits of peace.

It will be possible to telephone between the two countries for the first

time, a provision that will include the West Bank. The electric grids

will be linked.

There will be two border crossing points, one at the southern tips of

the two countries, near Eilat and Aqaba, the other in the north,

presumably at the Allenby Bridge.

Third country tourists will be permitted to cross freely between the

two countries.

Furthermore, an air corridor will be opened, permitting Jordanian

planes to fly over Israel. The reciprocal right will remain theoretical

until other Arab countries to the east permit Israeli air traffic.

It was notable that citizens of each country will still not have the

right to visit the other. That will have to await the peace treaty.

The agreement did not mention postal exchanges, but that is an

omission that will presumably be easily remedied.

Negotiations on economic relations are to be pursued, including work

for the abolition of of all economic boycotts.

This has been an object of Israeli policy for years.

There remain several serious outstanding issues. The first is the

status of refugees, those who fled Palestine in 1948-49 and their

descendants, and those who crossed the river during the 1967 war.

This is also a major matter of contention between Israel and the PLO,

Lebanon and Syria.

The Palestinians have come to accept that the great majority of the

people involved (they say there are four million) will never return, but

some satisfactory, face-saving formula must be found.

It will be much easier to satisfy King Hussein than the refugees

themselves.

Next is the status of Jerusalem. The Israelis made an important

concession, by recognising King Hussein as guardian of the Muslim holy

places, at least in Jerusalem. The statement does not extend to Hebron.

The phrase in the agreement is that ''Israel respects the present

special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Muslim holy shrines

in Jerusalem''. President clinton interpreted that as the king's

guardianship.

At any event, it excludes Yasser Arafat, who claims all East Jerusalem

for the PLO, including the mosques, and King Fahd of Saudi Arabia.

There are also territorial questions to be resolved, none of them as

difficult as the return of the Sinai to Egypt in 1979 or the Golan

Heights to Syria, which will be the next hurdle for the peace process.

Then the two countries will agree to a division of the waters of the

Jordan and Yarmuk rivers, and settle various minor issues.

King Hussein may not want to sign a permanent treaty until Syria has

fallen into line. He hopes that today's events will push President Assad

towards making his own peace with Israel.

There were a number of Arab ambassadors, some in full robes, at the

ceremony.

President Bill Clinton presided over the ceremony, and promised that

the United States ''will walk the final mile with you''.