Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a rare face-to-face meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah on Monday ahead of a visit to the region by the top Trump administration officials.
The trip to Amman was only announced by the Prime Minister’s Office after it had been completed on Monday evening.
“The king and the prime minister discussed regional developments, and advancing the peace process and bilateral relations. Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s commitment to maintaining the status quo at the holy sites in Jerusalem,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
U.S. Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt and U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner are set to visit the Middle East this week as part of a move to advance the Trump administration’s Israeli-Palestinian peace plan.
The two senior officials are expected to visit Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, where they will also reportedly discuss securing Arab funding for solving the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
It was also the first time Netanyahu and Abdullah have met since the diplomatic incident last year after a Israeli security guard its embassy in Amman shot and killed two Jordanians after being attacked by one wielding a screwdriver. As a result, Israel was forced to withdraw its ambassador from Jordan, as well as its diplomatic staff.
However, in a sign of warming ties, Jordan accepted a new Israeli ambassador, Amir Weissbrod, who took up his post last month.
