“An Issue For Jordanian Government”: White House Official On Jordan Removing Ambassador From Israel

Washington, DC [US] : Following the removal of its Ambassador from Israel by Jordan, the White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby has said that Jordan has the right to manage bilateral relations the way they see fit.

On being asked by the reporters if the current conflict could lead to deeper isolation for Israel as Jordan took such a step, Kirby responded by saying, “Well, certainly that’s going to be a comment for — or that’s an issue for the Jordanian government to speak to. I — I wouldn’t get involved in that. They — they have a right to manage bilateral relations the way they see fit.”

The White House official added by saying that an integrated Israel is good for the region.

“We still believe that an integrated Israel is good for the region. And we still believe that that is a path worth pursuing. And we’re not giving up on that. I think you’ve heard me say we’re still interested in pursuing this normalization arrangement between Israel and Saudi Arabia. And as I said yesterday, the Saudi Arabians have indicated a willingness to continue in that regard,” he said, according to a White House release.

“Again, the Jordanian government can and should speak for their own decision. We still believe that — that there is great power and there’s great promise in a more integrated, more cooperative Middle East, and we’re not going to give up on that,” he said.

Jordan had withdrawn its ambassador from Israel amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

“Today, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Affairs @AymanHsafadi decided to summon the Jordanian ambassador to Israel to Jordan immediately, and Al-Safadi directed the relevant department to inform the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs not to return its ambassador who had previously left the Kingdom, as an expression of the position of Jordan,” Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates’ said in its post ‘X’.

The ministry said Jordan rejects and condemns the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip “which is killing innocent people, causing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, and carries dangerous possibilities for its expansion, which will threaten the security of the entire region and international security and peace.”

Recently, the foreign ministries of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia condemned Israel’s strikes in Jabaliya in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, in which Hamas, in an unverified claim, said some 50 Palestinians were killed, The Times of Israel reported.

The statement of the three nations came after the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it had killed the commander of Hamas’s Central Jabaliya Battalion, Ibrahim Biari, in a strike on the Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, CNN reported.