Jericho Conference in the context of Jordanian disengagement from the West Bank

The Jordanian administration of the West Bank officially began on 24 April 1950, and ended with the decision to sever ties on 31 July 1988. The period started during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, when Transjordan occupied and subsequently annexed the portion of Mandatory Palestine that became known as the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The territory remained under Jordanian control until it was occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War and eventually Jordan renounced its claim to the territory in 1988.

During the December 1948 Jericho Conference, hundreds of Palestinian notables in the West Bank gathered, accepted Jordanian rule and recognized King Abdullah I as ruler. The West Bank was formally annexed on 24 April 1950, but the annexation was widely considered as illegal and void by most of the international community, including the Arab League, which ultimately decided to treat Jordan as a temporary trustee pending future settlement. Recognition of Jordan's declaration of annexation was granted only by the United Kingdom, Iraq, and possibly Pakistan. The United States while avoiding public approval, also recognized this extension of Jordanian sovereignty, except for Jerusalem.

The All-Palestine Government (Arabic: حكومة عموم فلسطين, Ḥukūmat ‘Umūm Filasṭīn) was established on 22 September 1948, during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, to govern the Egyptian-controlled territory in Gaza, which Egypt had on the same day declared as the All-Palestine Protectorate. It was confirmed by the Arab League and recognised by six of the then seven Arab League members, with Transjordan being the exception. Though it claimed jurisdiction over the whole of the former Mandatory Palestine, its effective jurisdiction was limited to the All-Palestine Protectorate, which came to be called the Gaza Strip. The President of the protectorate was Hajj Amin al-Husseini, former chairman of the Arab Higher Committee, and the Prime Minister was Ahmed Hilmi Pasha. The legislative body was the All-Palestine National Council.

Shortly thereafter, in October, King Abdullah I of Transjordan began to take steps to effect the annexation of those parts of Palestine that his army and other Arab forces had captured and held during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Then, on 1 December 1948, the Jericho Conference named him "King of Arab Palestine". The Congress called for the union of Arab Palestine and Transjordan and Abdullah announced his intention to annex the West Bank. The other Arab League member states opposed Abdullah's plan.

Sheikh Muhammad Ali Ja'abari (Arabic: الشيخ محمد علي الجعبري 1900–1980) was the long-serving mayor of the Palestinian city of Hebron, appointed by Jordan, from 1948 to 1976. Ja'abari was head of the Jericho Conference in Jericho which supported the unification of the West Bank and Jordan. In the 1950s, he held a seat in the upper chamber of the Jordanian government.