25 Jordan MPs reject Israel envoy’s return to Amman

By Laith al-Juneidi

AMMAN

Twenty-five members of Jordan’s 130-seat parliament have signed a petition rejecting the scheduled return of the Israeli ambassador to Amman.

“Signed by 25 lawmakers, the petition -- which calls for banning the ambassador’s return to Jordan -- was delivered to parliament’s general-secretariat,” Yahiya Saud, the head of the assembly’s Palestine committee, told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.

Asked whether the petition’s signatories wanted to sever all diplomatic relations with Israel, Saud replied: “Yes, that’s what we want.”

Last week, Jordan announced its readiness to receive Amir Weissbrod, Israel's newly-appointed ambassador to the Hashemite kingdom.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry named Weissbrod as its envoy to Jordan in February. However, the diplomat has yet to officially take up the post.

Israel’s embassy in Amman has been closed since July of last year, when two Jordanians were killed by an Israeli security guard in an apartment belonging to the embassy.

Last month, Israel agreed to compensate the victims' families and prosecute the security guard, paving the way for the embassy's reopening and the return of the ambassador.

In the wake of last summer’s killings in Amman, Jordan had demanded that Israel replace its then ambassador, Einat Schlein.