Jordanian leader King Abdullah expressed to US Vice President Mike Pence “worry” over President’s Trump’s historic recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, warning that it would lead to “instability” in the region, Channel 2 reported.
Pence is currently in Amman for discussions with the Jordanian King during the second leg of a three-country tour that began yesterday with a visit to Egypt and will continue tonight with a visit in Israel.
During his meeting with Pence, Abdullah said that he had "continuously voiced over the past year [his] concerns regarding the US decision on Jerusalem that does not come as a result of a comprehensive settlement to the Palestinian Israeli conflict," according to AFP.
"Jerusalem is key to Muslims and Christians as it is to Jews," he added. "It is key to peace in the region. And key to enabling Muslims to effectively fight some of the root causes of radicalization."
Abdullah told Pence that Jordan still supports the two-state solution, seeing it as “the only solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian Arab conflict, according to Channel 2. He reportedly emphasized to Pence that eastern Jerusalem must be the capital of a Palestinian state in any agreement reached by the sides.
On Saturday, Pence told Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi that the United States would support a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinian Arabs if the two sides agreed to it, Reuters reported.
“We heard President Al-Sisi out,” Pence told reporters after the meeting, saying the Egyptian leader described his objection to Trump’s decision as a “disagreement between friends.”
Pence said he assured Sisi that the United States was committed to preserving the status quo of holy sites in Jerusalem and had come to no final resolution on boundaries for the two parties.
“My perception was that he was encouraged by that message,” Pence said, according to Reuters. READ MORE
