The Jordanian government is reportedly refusing to allow the return of the Israeli ambassador to the country, more than a month after an Israeli embassy security guard shot and killed two Jordanian citizens, Israeli news website Ynet reported on Thursday.
Additionally, Ynet reported that relations between Israel and Jordan have remained frozen and no visas are being issued, meaning that “thousands of Jordanians and Palestinians living in Jordan who cannot enter Israel through the Allenby crossing” and “163 passports of Jordanian citizens waiting to receive a visa to Israel have been held in a safe of the Israeli embassy in Jordan.”
Staff members of the Israeli embassy to Jordan, including the security guard who Ynet identified as Ziv Moyan – who killed Jordanian citizens Muhammad Zakariya al-Jawawdeh, 17, and Bashar Hamarneh in what Jordanian media and officials said was a professional dispute – had returned to Israel in late July, just days after high tensions following the shooting incident.
Two Jordanians shot dead by Israeli embassy guard in Amman, tensions spike, says Cipher Brief. #CMEPBulletin https://t.co/nYk0zA5qxu
— CMEP (@ChurchesforMEP) August 28, 2017
According to Jordanian media, the Jordanian government had decided not to allow the Israeli ambassador to Jordan and the embassy staff to return to Amman until “gaining complete assurances” guaranteeing that Moyan would be prosecuted.
Ynet reported that Jordan’s refusal to accept ambassador Einat Shlain’s return to Amman was due to Shlain’s participation with Moyal and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a celebratory reception upon their return to Tel Aviv.
Ynet cited unidentified sources as saying that “Israel will have no choice but to appoint a new ambassador, if it intends to restore normal relations with Jordan.”
Jordan, enraged by Israeli handling of embassy shooting, is not letting Israel's ambassador return to the country https://t.co/M3pvapfzfC
— Jacob Burns (@JacobTBurns) August 12, 2017
Meanwhile, Israeli police are ongoing in their investigation of Moyan, who has maintained that he acted in self defense.
(Ma’an, PC, Social Media)
