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Jordan resorts to diplomacy to foil Netanyahu's annexation plan

Jordan will not stand idly by as Benjamin Netanyahu threatens to annex the Jordan Valley.
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Jordan is ratcheting up its diplomatic offensive against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement that he will annex major chunks of occupied West Bank territories if he wins the Sept. 17 Knesset elections. During a meeting with David Schenker, the US assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, in Amman on Sept. 12, King Abdullah stressed the importance of uniting international efforts to reject all actions that undermine the two-state solution.

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi condemned Netanyahu’s pledge to annex Jewish settlements as well as the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea areas, which constitute one-third of the West Bank. A few hours after Netanyahu's statement, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry quoted Safadi as saying that it is a “dangerous escalation that shatters the foundations of the peace process” and will lead to further violence and conflict in the region. Safadi described the declaration as an “outrageous” electoral tactic that breaches international law, kills the peace process and undermines the rights of the region’s people to peace.

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