Israel’s Ya’alon and Jordan’s King Abdullah meet in Munich

Special to WorldTribune.com

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and Jordan’s King Abdullah met on Feb. 12 to discuss bilateral relations as well as “ways to breathe life” into the Israel-Palestinian peace process.

The meeting, during a security conference in Munich, Germany, was the first between a senior Israeli official and Jordan’s king since the autumn of 2014, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Amman.

Joran's King Abdullah, left, and Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon
Jordan’s King Abdullah, left, and Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon

Ya’alon’s office said in a statement that the Israeli defense minister and Abdullah discussed bilateral relations between the two countries, recent developments in the region and promoting the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.

Jordan’s state news agency Petra reported the talks “focused on ways to breathe life into the peace process between the Palestinians and the Israelis.”

In his address to the Munich conference on Feb. 12, Abdullah said “the community of nations cannot talk about universal rights and global justice, but continue to deny statehood to Palestinians.

“This failure has created a festering injustice, and continues to be exploited by Daesh (ISIL) and its kind.

“Our whole world has paid the price. Left unresolved, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will become a religious conflict of a global dimension. And it is only a matter of time before we may be faced by yet another war in Gaza or in South Lebanon. This is why reaching a two-state solution should remain a priority for us all.”

Tension between Israel and Jordan has increased in recent months, mainly over the Temple Mount, which the Jordanian Waqf oversees as part of an agreement reached between the sides following the 1967 Six Day War.

Israel and Jordan reached and agreement late last year on the Temple Mount whereby the “status quo” in which Jewish prayer is banned but Muslim prayer is allowed will remain in place.