Palestinian terror must be halted before the start of the Jewish New Year next week, Prime Minster Yair Lapid told King Abdullah when the two men met in New York on Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
“Israel will not stand idly by and will fight terrorism directed against it in all its forms, and will not allow harm to the security of its citizens.”
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid
“Israel will not stand idly by and will fight terrorism directed against it in all its forms, and will not allow harm to the security of its citizens,” Lapid told King Abdullah.
The two men spoke about the need for “calming the situation on the ground and halting terrorism ahead of the upcoming Jewish holidays,” the Prime Minister’s Office said after the meeting.
It was the second face-to-face conversation between the two leaders since Lapid took office in July.
The conversation was “an additional expression of the tightening of Israel-Jordan relations, and the continued strengthening of the personal connection between the Prime Minister and the King of Jordan,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.
King Abdullah accuses Israel of harming Temple Mount status quo
Israel has turned to Jordan in the past to Jordan for help in calming tensions both in the West Bank and on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, known to Muslims as al-Haram, al-Sharif. Prior to the meeting, King Abdullah attacked Israel for its actions in Jerusalem and accused it of not protecting Christians and of harming the status quo on the Temple Mount by which only Muslims are allowed to pray.