King Abdullah: Continues To Push For Talks Toward A Palestinian State

Abdullah says Jordan continuing push for talks toward Palestinian state

Jordanian King Abdullah made the comment during a meeting on Monday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and several of his closest advisers at Al Husseiniya Palace in Amman.

Jordanian King Abdullah said his country is continuing its efforts to launch a renewed peace process between Israel and the Palestinians that will lead to the creation of a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital.

Abdullah made the comment during a meeting on Monday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and several of his closest advisers at Al Husseiniya Palace in Amman, the official Jordanian news agency Petra reported.

“His highness affirmed that Jordan is continuing to exert efforts, in coordination with the different relevant parties, to revive the peace process and launch negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis, based on the two-state solution, the Arab Peace Initiative and international resolutions and concluding in the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital,” the Petra report says.

US President Donald Trump’s administration is finalizing the details of a forthcoming plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Josh Raffel, a White House spokesman, said last month.

Shortly after Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in early December and initiated the relocation of the US Embassy in Tel Aviv to the city, Abbas said he would reject any American-proposed peace plan.

However, at the World Economic Forum in Davos in February, Abdullah said he had encouraged the Palestinians to wait for the Trump administration to release its plan.

In his meeting with Abbas, Abdullah also said that Jordan remains committed “to carrying out its historic role in protecting Muslim and Christian holy sites” in Jerusalem.

Jordan is considered to be the custodian of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, according to a bilateral agreement between Israel and Jordan.

King Abdullah and Abbas have met in Amman three times since Trump’s Jerusalem moves.

While Jordan has condemned Trump’s Jerusalem decisions, it has not taken any retaliatory measures against the US administration.

Jordan also recently hosted US Vice President Mike Pence and American Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.