Jordan says Israel's position is "untenable"
For King Abdullah I, the popular uprisings taking place in the Middle East and North Africa signal that the country cannot be inflexible on the Palestinian issue, and he advocated for a "spring in Israeli politics."
The so-called "Arab Spring" of popular uprisings sweeping the Middle East and North Africa has made the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories "unsustainable," Jordan's King Abdullah II said Friday. Abdullah II's country is one of two Arab nations that have peace treaties with Israel. The other is Egypt.
"The sea of changes we are witnessing will forever alter the nature of relations between Israel and its neighbors. The Arabs are asking to be treated as equals and that Israel not be treated as an 'exception' when it needs to be accountable to international law and its obligations," the monarch stated. Jordan signed its treaty with Israel in 1994. "The inflexibility of Israel's position in negotiations regarding the issue of settlements and the Palestinians' right to a state is unsustainable," Abdullah II said in a lecture at Columbia University in New York.
"What is needed, perhaps, is a 'spring in Israeli politics' that will free its politicians from the siege mentality and lead them to engage with their neighbors as equals." Abdullah II made the statements shortly before the president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Mahmoud Abbas, submitted the application for membership in the United Nations (UN), despite opposition from Israel and the United States.