Netanyahu is dragging region into war and must be stopped, Jordan says

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said ahead of the Security Council meeting that the airstrikes had increased the risk of the situation spiraling out of control.

 IRAN’S PRESIDENT Masoud Pezeshkian (right) meets with Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Tehran, last week. Pezeshkian’s administration merely continues the policies of his predecessor, Ebrahim Raisi, the writer argues. (photo credit: Iran’s Presidency/West Asia News Agency/Reuters)
IRAN’S PRESIDENT Masoud Pezeshkian (right) meets with Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Tehran, last week. Pezeshkian’s administration merely continues the policies of his predecessor, Ebrahim Raisi, the writer argues.
(photo credit: Iran’s Presidency/West Asia News Agency/Reuters)

Jordan's foreign minister said on Friday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to be stopped because he was driving the region to a full-fledged war.

"It is time to face the truth, and the truth is, unless Netanyahu is stopped, unless this government is stopped, war will encompass all of us," Ayman Safadi told reporters ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Gaza.

Earlier on Friday, Israeli airstrikes shook Beirut, with the Israeli military saying it had targeted Hezbollah's central headquarters in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said ahead of the Security Council meeting that the airstrikes had increased the risk of the situation spiraling out of control.

"We believe very, very, very strongly that a ceasefire is necessary, that the guns are not going to solve anything, that we need to move towards a peace in our region, and that peace is firmly rooted in addressing the Palestinian issue," bin Farhan said.

 JORDAN’S FOREIGN MINISTER Ayman Safadi (right) meets with UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, in Amman, last week. In 1949, when Israel supported the establishment of UNRWA, it was supposed to fulfill its goal and disband.  (credit: JEHAD SHELBAK/REUTERS)
JORDAN’S FOREIGN MINISTER Ayman Safadi (right) meets with UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, in Amman, last week. In 1949, when Israel supported the establishment of UNRWA, it was supposed to fulfill its goal and disband. (credit: JEHAD SHELBAK/REUTERS)

Netanyahu's speech

In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, Netanyahu spoke at length on his wish to make progress on normalizing ties with Saudi Arabia, and said Israel was fighting on seven fronts.

"It was interesting to see that Prime Minister Netanyahu, in his words, in quite a lengthy statement about the issue, not once mentioned Palestine, not once mentioned the Palestinians," bin Farhan said.

"This is exactly the problem. Without addressing the issue of Palestine, it will not be able, it will not be possible, to reach the dual potential of regional peace and stability," he said, adding that there would be no normalization without a resolution of the Palestinian issue.

Safadi echoed those comments.

"I can tell you here very unequivocally, all of us are willing to right now, guarantee the security of Israel in the context of Israel ending the occupation and allowing for the emergence of a Palestinian state, independent state," he said.


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"(But) he (Netanyahu) is creating danger because he simply does not want the two state solution," Safadi said.