Jordanian King Abdullah II on Thursday told Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid that Israel's "unilateral steps" in the holy city from accelerated Jewish settlement building to its attempts to change the legal status quo of the city undermined a two-state solution.
King Abdullah reaffirmed the need to step up efforts to achieve just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution that guarantees the establishment of an independent, sovereign, and a viable Palestinian state, on the 4 June 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
“The King reiterated the need to preserve the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem, maintain calm, and stop unilateral action that undermines the two-state solution,” a royal palace statement said.
King Abdullah’s position came during a meeting with Lapid at Al Husseiniya Palace in Amman, where the two sides tackled measures to reactivate the peace process.
The King stressed that achieving a just peace based on the two-state solution is the key to bolstering regional cooperation.
Earlier on Thursday, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi also sat down with the visiting Israeli Minister.
Talks between the two sides focused on efforts to return to serious and effective negotiations to achieve peace based on the two-state solution.
Safadi said the two-state solution is the only means of achieving a just and lasting peace. Several issues of bilateral concern were also discussed during the talks.
Last Wednesday, Safadi had warned that prospects for achieving Middle East peace are "absent," and that Israeli measures undermining the two-state solution are continuing.
“Israeli settlements are a violation of international law, and practices to undermine peace should stop, as well as confiscating lands and displacing Palestinians from their homes, in Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, and in Silwan area,” the Minister said.
Addressing the 157th regular session of the Arab League at the Ministerial level in Cairo, Safadi said Jerusalem is the key to peace, and Arab countries should work together, on a permanent and systematic basis, to protect its Arab, Islamic and Christian identity, and preserve its historic and legal status quo and its sanctities.
