Jordan's King Abdullah II and his son, Crown Prince Hussein, arrived by helicopter at Naharayim, the enclave returned by Israel to Jordanian hands over the weekend, 25 years after the peace treaty between the two countries.
In a unilateral move last year, following a mass demonstration in Amman, Abdullah announced he had decided not to extend the part of the 1994 Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty that leases regions of the Arava and Naharayim to Israel.
Abdullah announced termination of the lease of the Tzofar and Naharayim enclaves and declared Jordanian sovereignty in these areas during a speech in Jordanian parliament on the occasion of the opening of the parliament session yesterday.
He also referred to Jordan's stance favoring a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with east Jerusalem its capital.
Following Abdullah’s declaration, Jordan's flag was hoisted over Naharayim.
The lease's termination came last year as Jordan sought an increase in the water allocation that Israel transferred to it annually.
At the time, a delegation of senior officials from Jordan arrived in Israel and visited the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret) to request an additional allocation of water, "as stipulated in the peace agreement", due to the severe drought in Jordan.
Former Jordanian PM Abdelsalam Al-Majali tells reporter: "Israel continues to give us more water than we are due.":
