Israel Embassy in Jordan to reopen to the public in the coming days
Some staff have already returned to the Israeli embassy in Amman.
By JULIANE HELMHOLDUpdated: JANUARY 30, 2018 08:56Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets Israel's Ambassador to Jordan Einat Schlein and wounded security officer Ziv, July 25 2017.(photo credit: GOVERNMENT PRESS OFFICE)
The Israeli Embassy in Amman, Jordan, will be reopened to the public in the coming days and some embassy staff have already returned to their positions, Israel Public Radio reported on Tuesday.Israel Public Radio diplomatic correspondent Gili Cohen reported on Twitter that Israel is currently still looking for an ambassador to replace former ambassador Einat Schlein.The embassy had been closed since July, when an Israeli guard, Ziv Moyal, shot dead two Jordanians, Mohammed Jawawdeh and Bashar Hamarneh.Israel has “strongly apologized” for the July incident and promised to compensate the victims’ families, a Jordanian government spokesman said on January 18.When asked on Israel Public Radio what he thinks about the fact that part of the compensation money that Israel gave Jordan would likely go to the family of the assailant who attacked the embassy guard, Likud MK Tzachi Hanegbi responded “I don’t care.” He went on to say that the family members did nothing wrong. He stressed that the diplomatic benefits of normalizing ties with Jordan is of the utmost importance and that in any case Israel transferred the money to the Jordanian government and that it was up to them how to divide it up.When pressed, he added that there is a major distinction between paying Jordan and the PA promoting terror by paying family members of Palestinian terrorists.The move brings to a close one of the worst crises in Jordanian-Israeli relations since the two countries signed a peace treaty in 1994."Israel attaches great importance to its strategic relations with Jordan, and the two countries will act to advance their cooperation and to strengthen the peace treaty between them,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on January 18.Israel also promised to take “legal measures” in the case, Jordanian spokesman Mohammed Momani said, without specifying what they would be.Ben Lynfield contributed to this report.