A proposed visit to Israel by King Abdullah II has triggered polemics both inside and outside Jordan. A meeting of 11 Arab foreign ministers in Cairo last week decided to send a delegation comprising the foreign ministers of Jordan and Egypt to Israel to relay the text of the Arab peace plan to Olmert. Up to 30 deputies of the Jordanian lower house of parliament have submitted a memorandum calling for an ‘immediate halt to all negotiations and meetings’ with Israel, parliamentary sources said.
The signatories, who included both Islamists and pro-government lawmakers, cited Israel’s ‘failure to abide by any truce with the Palestinians as well as its failure to implement any UN Security Council resolutions pertaining to the Palestinian question.’
Less than 24 hours after Israeli newspaper MaÂ’ariv reported on Friday that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had extended an invitation to Abdullah to visit Israel, Israeli troops killed nine Palestinians in new attacks on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, house members said. According to the head of the royal courtÂ’s media department, the monarch is ready to exert any effort that may boost the Arab peace initiative that was readopted by Arab leaders in their summit meeting in Riyadh at the end of March despite the resumption of IsraelÂ’s assaults.
Israel’s fatal attacks on Palestinians on Saturday also drew angry reactions from the Islamic Action Front (IAF), Jordan’s largest political party and the political arm of the influential Muslim Brotherhood movement. Alluding to the king’s proposed visit to Israel, the chairman of the IAF Consultative Council Hamzeh Mansour said that the latest round of Israeli attacks should prompt the Arab world ‘to realize the nature of the enemy they are mulling to cooperate with.’ |