The Jan. 5 meeting between Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Jordanian King Abdullah was not their first meeting. They have known each other for many years and had met in Jordan as recently as last July. Other Israeli leaders have also met with the king in recent months, including Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.
Still, this was the first time in seven years that the palace in Amman published a picture of the king meeting with an Israeli official. The last time was in 2014, when the king met with then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the backdrop of Israeli-Palestinian talks that were mediated by then-US Secretary of State John Kerry. The Jan. 5 meeting was part of continues efforts by Bennett, Gantz and Lapid to revamp ties between Israel and Jordan, after sour relations during the Netanyahu era.
