Jordan’s Abdullah Snubs Netanyahu Call as Tensions Rise

Jordanian King Abdullah II refused to speak with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu over the government’s plan to annex parts of Yehudah and Shomron, Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported Monday.

Abdullah would also not specify a date for a meeting requested by Defense Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz, Ma’an quoted a Jordanian official as saying. This is not the first time such an incident has occurred in recent years.

Jordan has repeatedly condemned Israel’s proposed plans to extend its sovereignty over Yehudah and Shomron.

Last month, King Abdullah warned that Israeli annexation could result in “massive conflict” and the cancellation or freezing of Jordan’s landmark peace treaty with Israel in 1994.

“I do not want to make any threats and create an atmosphere of controversy, but we are considering all options,” King Abdullah told the German magazine Der Spiegel.

Jordan and Egypt are the only Arab countries that have peace treaties with Israel, though in recent years the Israeli government has been fostering closer and closer ties with several Gulf states.

On Friday, the UAE’s ambassador to the U.S., Yousef al-Otaiba, wrote an unprecedented opinion piece in Yediot Acharonot warning that annexation could reverse this trend.

Jordan and Israel enjoy close security cooperation, which is highly prized by all sides but now jeopardized by annexation.