
Jordan’s King Abdullah II said on Sunday there will be no breakthrough in the peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) if there is no U.S. commitment to supporting a solution to the “Palestinian issue”.
"Without the Hashemite custodianship and the steadfastness of the Jerusalemites, the holy sites would have been lost many years ago. Our success requires one to stand with the Palestinian brothers, so that our cause wouldn't be weakened and our rights would be maintained," he told members of the Lower House of Parliament, according to a report in the official Petra news agency.
The King warned that the future of the Palestinian issue is at stake and reaching a solution is becoming even more difficult. In this context, he called for more efforts and intensive work with the U.S. administration to make the necessary progress.
King Abdullah’s comments came ahead of a rare visit he will make to Ramallah this week, where he will meet Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
Earlier on Sunday, the Arabic newspaper Rai al-Youm reported that Jordan is preparing to advance several diplomatic steps against the Jewish state amid tensions in ties over the recent incident near the Israeli embassy in Amman, in which an Israeli security guard shot two Jordanian civilians.
Following the attack, Jordanian officials demanded Israel turn over the security officer for interrogation despite his diplomatic immunity, before King Abdullah and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reached a deal which allowed for the guard to return to Israel.
On Friday, the Israel Police said it would conduct an "examination" into the fatal shooting. Also on Friday, dozens of demonstrators took to the streets of Amman to demand the closure of the Israeli embassy.