Jordanian prime minister Omar Razzaz criticized the unveiled 1st part of the U.S. peace plan, saying that economic peace cannot solve the conflict. Jordan maintains the position that the creation of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as the capital is the only “road to peace.”
Jordan also refused Israel’s attempt to deport a Palestinian from East Jerusalem to Jordan by denying him entry. The Palestinian man has lived in East Jerusalem for more than 20 years, since he was 12 years old, and it is also where his wife and children live. The man was taken back to Givon prison in Ramle, where he is held without charges or a trial. Tensions between Israel and Jordan continued to intensify in August when 1st it was reported that Jordanian king Abdullah II refused a request made by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet, and again later in August when Israel’s public security minister Gilad Erdan said Jewish worshippers should be allowed to pray in the Haram al-Sharif compound in what would be a change to the status quo. A spokesperson from the Jordanian foreign ministry said such a change would have “dangerous repercussions” and Jordan summoned Israel’s ambassador to Jordan for a reprimand.