AMMAN — Jordan on Sunday highlighted the importance of a decisive Arab and Islamic stance denouncing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement to annex illegal settlements and the West Bank’s Jordan Valley region and impose Israeli sovereignty there.

 

Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, during an emergency meeting for foreign ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah, said that Netanyahu’s pledge stems from the “delusion” that the Palestinian cause and its centrality to Arabs and Muslims can be glossed over, according to a ministry statement. 

 

The foreign minister stressed that an emergency meeting for Arab foreign ministers in Cairo last week took stances to dispel such notions.

 

The minister said that such an Israeli decision is part of a planned strategy to perpetuate the occupation and kill opportunities for the establishment of a Palestinian state within the pre-1967 lines.

 

Thus, he added, there should be an effective and decisive Arab-Islamic response to Israel’s attempts to impose new facts on the ground and undermine opportunities for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

 

It is essential to adopt practical steps to counter illegitimate Israeli policies and to support Palestinians, the top diplomat stressed, urging joint Arab-Islamic efforts at the Security Council and for the international community to push for a unified position that rejects Israel’s announcement.

 

The minister added that Jordan engages daily and exerts relentless efforts to protect the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.

 

In this regard, Safadi highlighted that His Majesty King Abdullah, the Custodian of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, dedicates all the Kingdom’s prowess to preserve these sanctuaries and maintain their Islamic and Christian Arab identities.

 

There is no peace, no security and no stability without ending the occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital according to international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab peace initiative, the minister underlined. 

 

On the sidelines of the congress, Safadi separately met with some of his counterparts participating in the assembly to discuss the Israeli decision, according to a second ministry statement.

 

During the meetings with foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia Ibrahim Al Assaf, of Turkey Mevlüt Çavusoglu and of Palestine Riyad Al Maliki, Safadi condemned the Israeli decision and discussed means to enhance the Kingdom’s bilateral relations with their respective countries.