Jordan on Tuesday condemned Transportation Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s plan to extend the high-speed Tel Aviv-Jerusalem rail line to the Western Wall holy site in the capital’s Old City.
Calling the plan a “flagrant violation of international law,” Amman’s foreign ministry spokesman Daifallah al-Fayez called on the international community to “assume its responsibilities to resist the illegitimate and illegal Israeli steps,” according to comments carried by the BBC.
The Jordanian anger was sparked by the announcement a day earlier by Smotrich that officials had approved moving forward with a controversial plan to place a train station at the heart of the Old City that could whisk tourists from Ben-Gurion Airport to the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews are allowed to pray.