Jordan’s King Abdullah II described the recent Israeli war with the Gaza Strip as “a wake-up call” for everyone.
Israel’s ability to maintain the situation as it is, relying on its technological power and and thriving economic, is “a very fragile façade,” according to the monarch.
In an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, he said: “I think that’s a very fragile façade, and I say that because, again, when we have wars, there is a template there; I know what is going to happen over the three weeks and how the loss of life and tragedy on all sides.”
King Abdullah added that the last war with Gaza was different.
“Since 1948, this is the first time I feel that a civil war happened in Israel. When you look at the villages and the towns, Arab-Israelis and Israelis got into conflict, and I think that was a wake-up call for the people of Israel and the people of Palestine.”
He also announced that he met with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Defense Minister Benny Gantz, confirming earlier Israeli press reports about the meeting.
“I came out of those meetings feeling very encouraged, and I think we have seen in the past couple of weeks, not only a better understanding between Israel and Jordan, but the voices coming out of both Israel and Palestine that we need to move forward and reset that relationship,” King Abdullah said.
Zakaria asked him about Dore Gold, an influential adviser to former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who recently said that Jordan needs to start thinking of itself as the Palestinian state.
King Abdullah said: “Well, again, that type of rhetoric is nothing new, and basically, those people have agendas that they want to do at the expense of others. Jordan is Jordan. We have a diverse society from different ethnic and religious backgrounds. I would maybe contest the percentage in the figures that you have mentioned, but it is our country.”
He asserted that the Palestinians do not want to be in Jordan, but they want their lands, and they want their flag to fly above their houses.
Moreover, King Abdullah confirmed that Jordan was previously attacked by Iran-made drones.
“Unfortunately, Jordan has been attacked by drones that have come out, that are Iranian signature that we have had to deal with in the past year or so and escalated,” he said. However, he did not disclose when the attack took place and parties involved.
Furthermore, he said Iran’s nuclear program affects Israel as it does the Gulf. The Tehran regime’s ballistic technology has improved dramatically, he warned, adding that attacks on US bases in Iraq and cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia from Yemen attest to that.
“Jordan always supports dialogue…(but) there are legitimate concerns in our part of the world on a lot of portfolios that the Americans are hopefully going to discuss with the Iranians.”
