Israeli Embassy in Jordan to Resume Operations

Israel and Jordan announced in separate statements that they have reached an agreement allowing the Israeli embassy in Amman, the capital of Jordan, to fully resume its activities. The Israeli embassy in Amman witnessed a shooting last summer that resulted in the deaths of two Jordanians. According to Israel, one of the deceased was an Israeli youth who attacked a security officer with a weapon. This incident led to several days of protests against Israel near the embassy in Amman. After a few days, Jordan abandoned its request for the extradition of the security officer for trial in Jordan but demanded his trial in Israel. The then Israeli ambassador to Jordan returned to Jerusalem with the security officer accused of the shooting. Despite this, diplomatic relations between the two countries were not officially severed. Three years prior, Raed al-Zayter, a Palestinian-Jordanian judge, was killed at the Allenby Bridge while crossing the land border between the two countries to visit relatives in the West Bank. At that time, Israel stated that the judge had attempted to take a border guard's weapon, but Jordan rejected this claim. According to the Jordanian news agency Petra, the Jordanian government announced on Thursday, January 18, that it had received an official letter from Israel apologizing for the deaths of the two Jordanian citizens at the Israeli embassy. According to Mohammed Momani, the Jordanian government spokesman, Israel has committed to compensating the families of the deceased and conducting necessary judicial investigations into both killings. A statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office released on Thursday evening confirmed the agreement between the two countries to conduct judicial investigations into the incidents that led to the deaths of Jordanian citizens. Benjamin Netanyahu's office added that the Israeli embassy in Jordan would immediately resume full operations. This office described relations with Jordan as 'strategic' and stated that the two countries would take steps to strengthen the peace treaty. Meanwhile, Israeli media reported that the country would soon appoint a new ambassador, although the Israeli government has not yet confirmed the change. Jordan was the second Arab country after Egypt to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, and this treaty has remained intact despite some tensions between Israel and the Arab world.