He spent a large part of his life between the walls of the General Intelligence Directorate, a life of "walls" as he described it one day, formed at a stage in his life the feeling that he was living with others between "walls", this resulted in psychological and physical burdens because the work of an intelligence officer in the third world is like walking on a very tight rope, with the possibility of the rope of goodwill with others on the verge of breaking.
He doesn't believe much in political salons, or sessions of political gossip because he sees that teamwork is fundamental, and individual effort is lost among the details.
More serious than "necessary," he appears tense and grim at times, which is clearly reflected in his external features, as his face betrays the secrets of his heart.
He classifies himself as a Jordanian nationalist Arab, he is Jordanian Arab, Palestinian Arab, Syrian Arab, Iraqi Arab, hoping for the day when Arabs will unite.
He does not believe in tribalism as a reference, nor does he believe in the politicization of the tribe in a developed and contemporary country based on institutions, looking to the future as a part of the Arab nation.
Bold in confronting mistakes, he does not believe in smoothing things over, and often found himself in an open battle due to his frankness and insistence on saying what he sees as correct.
Between Hebron and Irbid, Ahmad Obeidat spent his early years where his father's job in the public security dictated his traveling between cities.
The city of Nablus, which was bustling with popular activism, was the first spark in awakening his political consciousness, and joining parties was the fashion at the time among youth in schools and universities, a fashion he did not commit to and did not chase.
During high school, he discovered his nationalist leanings after enthusiasm grew within him, participating in most of the demonstrations held in Nablus protesting against Templar's visit and the Baghdad Pact, and it was ironic that his father was the officer responsible for Nablus during that period, which probably prevented him from party affiliation, and refrained from joining any parties despite the friendships he had with several party members from the nationalists, leftists, and Muslim Brotherhood.
Then came his law studies in Baghdad which deepened his political horizon, broadened his perceptions, and allowed him to see the Jordanian and Arab scene from a broader and deeper angle.
He began his working life after graduating as a trainee in an office in Irbid as the law has always fascinated him. However, things were not encouraging in law practice so he applied at the Civil Service Bureau to work and was appointed in the Ministry of Finance, and it was a short trial period that lasted only seven months as he was attracted by an announcement about a course in public security for law graduates, and he applied for the course where he was appointed after graduating as an officer in public security. Later, he was transferred to the general investigations agency (currently the General Intelligence).
He was one of a group formed to study the "files" of citizens of a political nature and found much randomness in decision-making and worked on deleting many of those "files".
He lived in Jabal Al-Taj in Amman when he was kidnapped by the "Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine," in a secret place inside Al-Wihdat camp.
A man at peace with his conscience, he says that work is not inherently what calms the conscience but rather the approach and method, and in the Arab world, a person in intelligence and security is given far broader powers than they deserve, and here there is no deterrent but the very minimum of accountability according to the hierarchical structure of officials and the public, making the task in institutional countries easier than in others lacking such institutions.
He sees that the "negative" image of an intelligence officer is due to the nature of the tasks he does indeed interact with citizens mostly in "negative" occasions as he says, hence some injustice may befall the people where the matter is subject to personal assessment.
He says that he left the work in intelligence for about 20 years at peace with his conscience because he endeavored at every step to correct mistakes and lift injustice, trying to apply the task entrusted to him according to the law.
The period preceding his appointment as director of the General Intelligence was anxious and full of surprises and contributed to him taking over the position succeeding General Mohammad Rasul al-Kilani, and Abu Thamer confirms that his taking over the head of intelligence was not based on a recommendation from anyone but was imposed by the job sequence and military rank.
As a result of the appointment of the late Suleiman Arar as Minister of Interior in the presidency of the National Consultative Council, Obeidat was appointed Minister of Interior in a minor adjustment made to Mudar Badran's government, and this was expected, and not out of context, but what was surprising to him was the task of leading the prime ministry, as he revealed one day, but circumstances ruled and he bore the responsibility for a period of one year and three months, and his government was born with the maturation of the Jordanian-Palestinian agreement which led to Amman hosting the controversial meetings of the Palestinian National Council which was a turning point in the history of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
As anxious as his appointment was, his resignation from the government was a matter of controversy and a long series of speculations.
And it is said that the whales and parasites that grew on the margins of the Jordanian society resisted change and poisoned the atmosphere, after he set his sight on stopping the escalation of debt and implementing a strict policy to control public spending in both the public and military sectors.
A comprehensive plan for development and administrative reform was proposed, and he began reviewing and correcting the conditions of public institutions and major production companies and decided to transfer their management to work sites, and launched an investigation into the conditions of public shareholding companies that squandered the citizens' money, and it was decided to prepare legislation for economic crimes to protect the citizen and public money and cut off corruption.
Externally, there was greater power due to the government's decision to "Jordanize" the banks, and to subject the government to normalization especially in the field of municipalities and Jordanian bank branches in Palestine, and one form of pressure was the freezing of U.S. economic and military aid particularly after the government signed a successful agreement with the Soviet Union to purchase the missile systems on offer.
At the end of 1985, along with a group of politicians, he issued a statement directed to the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak following the meeting with Shimon Peres in Alexandria pleading with him in the name of the martyrs not to ignore Jerusalem in the talks, and a statement was issued about the Mubarak Peres meeting that did not include any reference to Jerusalem or the withdrawal from the occupied territories. In light of this statement, he resigned from his position in the Senate.
He played a conciliatory role in passing the political parties law in the nineties following the intensification of disagreements between the deputies and the senators, and he stood against the Wadi Araba Agreement, and expressed strong opposition to open-ended relationships without restrictions or accountability with the United States.
The National Center for Human Rights gained high credibility locally and internationally after the accurate, professional, and bold reports it issued during its formation.
He believes that economic and political corruption is the death of any government system, and the statement he signed with 150 personalities about stopping privatization and combating corruption and starting a serious national policy for comprehensive reform carried significant political weight and maturity.
Within this context, he led the "National Front for Reform" that rejected in more than one fiery statement any tampering with the laws of political reform especially the election law, stating that the reform aims to ensure the "continuation of the constitutional legitimacy of the rule in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and to preserve the stability of our homeland, the dignity of its people, and the integrity of its national fabric".
Often he advised successive prime ministers on translating the King's statements regarding youth and popular movements into reality, after considering them Obeidat "an official good political initiative," aiming for practical steps towards comprehensive reforms" through a package of measures.
Advising that efforts be made seriously to ease the general atmosphere, and to stop the counter political mobilization and rhetoric through the official media.
He also advised "caution and calm in official statements," and that "they should not be directed with the intention of deepening the policy of exclusion and incitement".
Conservatively, in an exceptional way, he maintained a balance between mature, aware opposition and loyalty to the homeland, which is the basis of everything.
In an interview with Arab Television on the program "And in Another Narrative," Obeidat spoke at length about his political experience, noting at the end of the interview that he receives a retirement salary not exceeding two thousand Jordanian dinars (about 3,000 dollars), which forced him to work in law to secure a suitable income for him and his family.
When he talks about the "Al-Aqsa Flood" on October 7, 2023, he speaks with great passion and pride, saying "the whole world woke up to a believing few emerging from Gaza and delivering a blow to the enemy Zionists army that stunned and shook the foundations of the Israeli state with all its civil and military institutions, and revitalized in the nation the spirit of struggle, sacrifice, and hope anew, and pulled the Palestinian cause from beneath the rubble of neglect and disregard".
Until his last days, Obeidat believed "that any Arab Muslim, ruler or from the people, who gives up a speck of dust from the land of historical Palestine is a betrayer of his nation, homeland, and religion", adding "Gaza is not alone, and although it may appear solitary, facing the unfair European and American stance, but the reaction of the resistance pulls it from a state of solitude to a collective act against aggression, thus the entire nation is with it".
He never tired, and the scene did not fade, until his passing, despite his very limited media and social presence, many grew weary while he continued to break down the walls of silence, anxiety, and moving from the circle of doubt to the space of national and Arab certainty.
