Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delayed approving Jordan’s request for water from Israel, according to a report on Friday, amid recent tensions between Jerusalem and Amman.
Citing Israeli and Jordan security sources, the Haaretz daily said that Jordan made the request this month to reduce water shortages. The request was filed through the Israel-Jordan joint water committee, which was set up following the 1994 peace treaty between the countries.
Despite officials backing the water move, Netanyahu and the National Security Council have delayed responding to the request, which the report reveals it intends to reject.
Get The Daily of Israel’s Daily Edition by Email and don’t miss our top stories for free
Israeli sources who had close ties to Jordan expressed concern about the tight ties between Jerusalem and Amman, accusing Netanyahu of endangering the peace agreement because of the animosity between him and a royal family Jordan.
View of the Jordan River after heavy rains in northern Israel, on 27 December 2019. (Yossi Zamir / Flash90)
They argued that the main figure was avoiding the strategic value of Israel’s relationship with Jordan, noting the Jordanian forces on their divided border allowed the Israeli army less put soldiers in it.
The newspaper also said that Jordan wants Israel’s help in getting coronavirus vaccines, but that Netanyahu has left him from a list of countries included in a campaign that has now been launched. stop to give doses to friendly countries.
The report came weeks after Netanyahu was set to visit the United Arab Emirates for the first official visit by an Israeli leader, half a year after the countries established formal relations. He had hoped to use the audience with the UAE crown prince to kick-start his re-election campaign less than two weeks before the Knesset elections on March 23rd.
The trip was canceled, however, with Netanyahu’s office citing problems coordinating the flight to the UAE over Jordan’s airport, after Crown Prince Jordan Hussein’s visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem derelict, a sensitive holy site in Jordanian care, due to disagreements with Israel over security arrangements.
Instead of taking an Israeli jet, Netanyahu had prepared to shut down an Emirati plane to the UAE – apparently for security reasons. That airline had been arriving at an airport at Jordan’s airport in Amman, awaiting permission from local authorities before taking off to Israel to build Netanyahu. Jordan held up the agreement for several hours before giving a green light later in the day. However, before Netanyahu was evacuated for a flight, it was already too late and the Prime Minister’s Office decided to postpone the flight, due to lack of time.
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi later confirmed that Jordan continued to grant Netanyahu oversight in retaliation for postponing the prince’s visit to Jerusalem. Safadi accused Israel of breaking an agreement on the arrangements for the trip, while Israel has said Hussein came with a heavier security than promised.
The diplomatic spat highlighted Jordanian frustration with Netanyahu and tensions between the two neighbors that have been rife for years.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and King Abdullah II of Jordan left at the Royal Palace in Amman, Jordan, on 16 January 2014. (AP / Yousef Allan, Jordanian Royal Palace)
According to a report earlier this month, Netanyahu ordered the closure of Israeli airports to flights in and out of Jordan in retaliation for Amman’s delay. slate plane to take the prime minister to the UAE.
Netanyahu made the unilateral decision not to speak to the cabinet or air officials, who were shocked when he received the order, recognizing his key international achievements, Maariv reported .
However, it appears that the principal had a change of heart minutes before the order was carried out and decided to withdraw the instructions, according to the report, citing several senior officers who were involved in the event.
Banning Jordan-related planes from using Israeli air space would have been a breach of the peace treaty that Israel struck with Jordan in 1994. The directive would also have breached the treaties flights arriving in Israel with countless other countries, including the United States, which use Israeli airspace for flights landing in Jordan or those that use Israeli and Jordan airports to reach other destinations in the region.
