Saturday, August 5, 2017

Jordan protesters demonstrate near Israeli embassy

Dozens of demonstrators took to the streets of Amman, Jordan on Friday, demanding the closure of the Israeli embassy there.
 
Arab media reported the march began at Kalouti Mosque after Friday prayers, from which the demonstrators marched to the Israeli embassy.
 
The protesters also called for the cancellation of the gas deal signed between Jordan and Israel last September.
 
Friday’s protest mark the second week in a row that protests were held outside the Israeli embassy, following the recent shooting incident in which an embassy security guard shot dead a Jordanian who attacked him at his residence.
 
Following the incident, Jordanian officials demanded Israel turn over the security officer for interrogation – despite his diplomatic immunity.
 
Jordan had refused to allow the guard to leave the country. The head of the Shin Bet intelligence agency then traveled to Amman to conduct his own investigation into the incident. The intelligence chief presented the officer's side of the story to Jordanian officials, and after negotiations between King Abdullah and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Jordan agreed to allow the guard to return to Israel.
 
On Friday, the Israel Police said it would conduct an "examination" into the shooting.
King Abdullah reacted furiously to Netanyahu's warm welcome of the embassy security guard following his return to Israel, claiming the Prime Minister treated the guard as a “hero” and this behavior was “unacceptable”.