Jordan’s King Abdullah met Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday in Amman, where the monarch condemned a deadly attack near Tel Aviv and urged the advancement of peace efforts.
This was the first official visit by an Israeli head of state to Jordan since the two countries normalised ties nearly three decades ago.
Abdullah said that Jordan condemned all forms of violence, according to a statement released by the Jordanian royal court.
He referred “to the unfortunate attacks that targeted civilians on both sides, including yesterday’s attack,’’ it added.
On Tuesday, five people were killed near Tel Aviv after a Palestinian man opened fire on them, in the third attack in a week.
Herzog and Abdullah’s meeting came after several trips by Israeli ministers to Amman amid fears of a new outbreak of violence during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
It also came two days after Abdullah went to Ramallah for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Abdullah said that “Herzog’s visit is a chance for deep discussion about how to move forward with the efforts to achieve just and fair peace and build a future that holds promising opportunities.”
“The king said that the conflict has lasted for a long time, and the resulting violence continues to cause a lot of pain and provide a fertile ground for extremism,’’ according to the Jordanian statement.
Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, to become the second country to establish diplomatic ties in the region after Egypt.
In 2020, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain established official ties with Israel.
Sudan and Morocco followed weeks later. (dpa/NAN)