Israel’s Bennett, Jordan's king meet secretly, make water deal
In a meeting July 8 in Jordan, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi formalized an agreement reached by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Jordanian King Abdullah last week on increasing the quantity of water Israel will sell to Jordan.
The Israeli press reported July 8 that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had secretly met with Jordan's King Abdullah II in his Amman palace last week. Bennett's office did not confirm this report.
According to a former unnamed senior Israeli official, cited by Walla news, the meeting was very positive. Reportedly, Bennett informed the king at the beginning of the meeting that Israel would agree to sell the kingdom more water than the quota provided by the 1994 bilateral peace agreement. Jordan needs the deal to confront a devastating water shortage.
