Upon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returning on June 18 from his first public visit to Jordan in four years, his office issued a truly minimalist statement on his meeting with King Abdullah II at the Royal Palace in Amman. The first sentence said the two had “discussed regional developments, advancing the peace process and bilateral relations,” its banality highlighting the sole and interesting message in the second sentence: “PM Netanyahu reiterated Israel's commitment to maintaining the status quo at the holy sites in Jerusalem.”

Of note, Netanyahu only committed to the status quo at the holy sites. He made no mention of a commitment to reining in the wave of construction in Jerusalem’s Holy Basin, where many holy sites of the three major monotheistic religions are located, and the city’s annexed Palestinian neighborhoods. As far as he is concerned, these are inseparable parts of what he calls a “united Jerusalem, Israel’s eternal capital.”

On the other hand, the Royal Palace statement underscored the need to define the meaning of “status quo” in the occupied territories. The king not only paid lip service to “advancing the peace process,” but according to the statement, he reaffirmed to his visitor that the only way to achieve peace and stability in the region is by reaching a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and establishing a Palestinian state along the June 4, 1967, borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The king further asserted that the issue of Jerusalem must be resolved in permanent status negotiations, since the holy city is key to achieving peace in the region. He made clear that Jordan would maintain its historic role in safeguarding the sites holy to Islam and Christianity in Jerusalem, in accordance with the Hashemite Custodianship, a legacy granted to the Jordanian royal family almost a century ago.

Shortly after Netanyahu’s departure, the king hosted Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s adviser and son-in-law, and Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s special peace envoy to the Middle East. It was the duo’s first visit to Jordan since the controversial move of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in mid-May. The king has made no bones about his displeasure with the American move. At a meeting in November with members of Congress, Abdullah warned that relocating the embassy at this stage would endanger the two-state solution and would be exploited by terror organizations to sow anger, frustration and despair, and to propagate their ideology.