Obama and King Abdullah meet in the White House
Obama and King Abdullah meet in the White HouseReuters

U.S. President Barack Obama met on Friday with King Abdullah II of Jordan at the White House, saying he was “concerned” about the tensions between Israelis and Palestinian Arabs.

"We share concerns about the continuous tensions between Israel and Gaza," Obama was quoted by UPI as having said following the meeting, adding, "We are going to work together for a Palestinian state."

The meeting comes as Jordan heads a bid to win backing for a UN resolution on a final Israeli-Palestinian settlement that could be presented to the Security Council in the coming weeks.

Jordan's Ambassador to the UN, Dina Kawar, said this week she would be meeting with representatives from Arab countries and council members to gauge whether there is support for a "unified text" on advancing Israeli-Palestinian Authority (PA) peace.

If a consensus can be reached, a draft resolution could be presented to the council later this month or in January, she said.

The PA, which is being backed by the Arab League, has been pushing for a draft resolution that calls for ending the “Israeli occupation” by November 2016.

The text ran into opposition from the United States and other members of the council, opening the way for the Europeans led by France to begin talks on a separate draft that would set a timeframe for ending negotiations.

The two leaders also discussed the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS), with Obama saying, "We had an extensive discussion about how to debilitate and destroy [ISIS] both in Iraq and Syria. Jordan has been working on this side-by-side with U.S. troops and other countries. We are making slow but steady progress, and we recognize that it is a long-term and extremely complex challenge."

King Abdullah II reiterated Jordan's "long-term commitment to bringing a long-term solution to the region" and noted that the Jordanian military is "very proud be working together to combat ISIS in Syria and Iraq."

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)