Jordanian king welcomed Israeli president to Amman to discuss ‘strategic issues’

ByNews Desk- The Cradle

Regional leaders have been making strategic moves ahead of the visit by US President Joe Biden to the region next month

Jordan’s King Abdullah II welcomed Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Amman this week, a spokesperson from Herzog’s office revealed on 29 June.

“During the warm meeting, held at King Abdullah’s invitation, the President and the King discussed deep strategic issues, at both bilateral and regional levels,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Herzog was welcomed to the Royal Palace on 27 June to deal with “diplomatic developments in the region.” The visit was reportedly coordinated with the Prime Minister’s Office and the Foreign Ministry.

The statement by Herzog’s office said that the two leaders discussed both the need to ensure the stability of bilateral relations and “the need for dialogue with all actors in the region.”

A Jordanian official told Israel’s Channel 12 News that the visit came before “important developments in the region.”

The Israeli president last visited Amman in March, when a wave of retaliatory attacks against Israeli settlers by Palestinians was spreading across the occupied territories.

Israeli National Security Adviser Eyal Hulata visited Jordan last week.

Jordan, which normalized relations with Israel decades ago, is often seen as an accomplice in the occupation of Palestine, and a party to the annexation of Palestinian lands.

The Hashemite kingdom signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, long before the so-called Abraham Accords, which saw the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco normalize diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020.

Earlier this year, the Jordanian parliament delivered an official request to the government to expel the Israeli ambassador in Amman, in protest against Tel Aviv’s attacks on Palestinian worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Herzog’s visit to Amman comes as several leaders in the region have been making strategic trips ahead of the arrival of US President Joe Biden to the region.

The US leader is set to arrive at the Israeli capital on 13 July. He is also slated to visit the occupied West Bank before setting off for Saudi Arabia to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.