JERUSALEM: Israel said Tuesday it was reopening its embassy in Jordan which has been shut for six months, after the countries resolved a diplomatic dispute over a deadly shooting.
The embassy in Amman is in the process of “gradual reopening,” Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said, without providing further details.
On July 23, a security guard for the Israeli embassy shot dead a Jordanian worker who had stabbed him in the back with a screwdriver after coming to an apartment to install furniture, according to the Israeli foreign ministry.
A second Jordanian, the apartment landlord, was also killed — apparently by accident.
The guard was briefly questioned by investigators in Jordan before returning to Israel along with the rest of the embassy staff, where he received a hero’s welcome from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu along with ambassador Einat Shlein, sparking widespread anger in Jordan.
Amman later said it would not allow the embassy staff to return until Israel opened a serious investigation and offered an apology.
Israel’s justice ministry said in August it was launching a police “examination” into the incident.
On January 18 Jordan said Israel had apologized for the killing of the two Jordanians as well as the killing of a Jordanian judge by an Israeli soldier at the countries’ border in 2014, and agreed to compensate all three families.
Netanyahu said Israel had “expressed regret” over the July shooting and agreed to pay compensation to the Jordanian government, according to a report in the Jerusalem Post.
Israel was meanwhile seeking a new ambassador to replace Shlein.
A Jordanian government source told AFP that an “Israeli technical team is in constant contact with the Jordanian foreign ministry... in preparation for the return of the Israeli embassy staff to Amman,” without saying when it would happen.
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Israel reopening Jordan embassy after diplomatic row
Israel reopening Jordan embassy after diplomatic row
Israel’s Netanyahu hopes to ‘taper’ Israel off US military aid in next decade
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview published on Friday that he hopes to “taper off” Israeli dependence on American military aid in the next decade.
Netanyahu has said Israel should not be reliant on foreign military aid but has stopped short of declaring a firm timeline for when Israel would be fully independent from the US
“I want to taper off the military within the next 10 years,” Netanyahu told the Economist. Asked if that meant a tapering “down to zero,” he said, “Yes.”
Netanyahu said he told President Donald Trump during a recent visit that Israel “very deeply” appreciates “the military aid that America has given us over the years, but here too we’ve come of age and we’ve developed incredible capacities.”
In December, Netanyahu said Israel would spend 350 billion shekels ($110 billion) on developing an independent arms industry to reduce dependency on other countries.
In 2016, the US and Israeli governments signed a memorandum of understanding for the 10 years through September 2028 that provides $38 billion in military aid, $33 billion in grants to buy military equipment and $5 billion for missile defense systems.
Israeli defense exports rose 13 percent last year, with major contracts signed for Israeli defense technology including its advanced multi-layered aerial defense systems.
Netanyahu has said Israel should not be reliant on foreign military aid but has stopped short of declaring a firm timeline for when Israel would be fully independent from the US
“I want to taper off the military within the next 10 years,” Netanyahu told the Economist. Asked if that meant a tapering “down to zero,” he said, “Yes.”
Netanyahu said he told President Donald Trump during a recent visit that Israel “very deeply” appreciates “the military aid that America has given us over the years, but here too we’ve come of age and we’ve developed incredible capacities.”
In December, Netanyahu said Israel would spend 350 billion shekels ($110 billion) on developing an independent arms industry to reduce dependency on other countries.
In 2016, the US and Israeli governments signed a memorandum of understanding for the 10 years through September 2028 that provides $38 billion in military aid, $33 billion in grants to buy military equipment and $5 billion for missile defense systems.
Israeli defense exports rose 13 percent last year, with major contracts signed for Israeli defense technology including its advanced multi-layered aerial defense systems.
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