Jerusalem: United States Vice-President Mike Pence arrived on relatively friendly territory in Israel after the leaders of Egypt and Jordan, two of the America’s closest Arab allies, publicly rebuked him for the Trump administration’s upending of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
A day after he heard pointed complaints from Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo, Pence underwent a firm but polite tongue-lashing from Jordan’s King Abdullah II over President Donald Trump’s abrupt declaration last month that the US would recognise Jerusalem the capital of Israel, a decision that has roiled the region.
Meeting in a royal palace on a hilltop in Amman, Jordan, the king told Pence he had warned the White House about the danger of recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital outside of a negotiated agreement since Palestinians also claim the divided city as their capital in a future independent state.
Abdullah said he had repeatedly voiced “my concerns regarding the US decision on Jerusalem that does not come as a result of a comprehensive settlement”.
Read the full article by Brian Bennett at the Sydney Morning Herald.