Jordan’s king stands with Palestinians
Jordan’s King Abdullah II paid a rare visit to the West Bank Thursday in a show of support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ successful bid for UN recognition of a Palestinian state.
The Jordanians spoke out sharply against Israel’s latest plans to build thousands of new Jewish settler homes in response to the Palestinian move, including initial plans to revive a contentious project east of Jerusalem.
The project, known as E1, would drive a wedge between the north and south flanks of the West Bank, critics say.
“The settlement policy is not only rejected from our side as Arabs and Palestinians, but also by the whole world,” Abdullah’s foreign minister, Nasser Judeh, said. Neither the king nor Abbas commented publicly after the meeting.
But Abdullah’s arrival gave a high-profile boost of support to the UN bid, which has come under fierce Israeli criticism.
Jordan is one of just two Arab countries with a peace agreement with Israel.
The king’s public support was significant.
The UN resolution recognized a Palestinian state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip — territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, also called the Six-Day War, fought with Jordan, Egypt and Syria.
Israel rejects a return to its 1967 lines and says a fu- ture border must be reached through negotiations.
The new settlement plans have drawn widespread international condemnation, with the U.S. and key Israeli allies in Europe urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call off the plans.
Netanyahu, during a visit to Germany on Thursday, vowed to press forward with E1, insisting the territory would remain under Israeli control as part of any future peace agreement.
In addition to the E1 project, Israel has responded to the Palestinians’ UN move by cutting off a regularly scheduled $100 million tax transfer to the Palestinian Authority, citing back-owed utilities fees.
The Palestinian government has already struggled to the pay the salaries of its tens of thousands of workers.
In a statement, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad called on the international community to press Israel to release the funds.
Fayyad has also urged wealthy Arab countries to send $240 million each month to keep the government afloat while Israel withholds the money.
Israel has taken similar measures in the past.
Ultimately, they end up releasing the money under international pressure after several weeks.