TEL AVIV - Jordan may soon return its ambassador to Israel, but the decision hinges on the success of Tuesday’s Sharm el-Sheikh summit, the country’s foreign minister says.
The ambassador would only be sent back in the framework of a renewed peace process, and not as a symbolic gesture that reflects Israeli-Jordanian relations, Hani al-Mulki says.
“Jordan does not wish to return its ambassador to Tel Aviv just for the sake of doing so,” he said in an interview with London-based Arabic newspaper al-Hayat.
The Jordanian ambassador to Israel was recalled shortly after the intifadah’s outbreak, to protest his country’s dissatisfaction with Israel’s actions.
The summit should bring about a commitment to renew the peace process, al-Mulki said, and added that this would reinstate the situation that prevailed in the West Bank and Gaza before the intifadah.
“The most important thing is for summit participants to achieve clear results on the issues of implementing the road map and an Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip,” he said.
“Returning the Jordanian ambassador should assist in fostering Palestinian-Israeli dialogue,” al- Mulki said.
The Jordanian minister, meanwhile, denied reports that Jordan intends to send military forces to the West Bank to assist in restoring calm. The forces in question are Palestinian, and were merely trained in Jordan, he said.
“We won’t be sending soldiers or police officers to the territories,” he said, “but we’re always willing to train Palestinian security forces.”