Foreign Ministry issues tender for new ambassador to Jordan
Netanyahu hopes to name envoy in the coming days, after deal with Amman enables return of embassy staff
The Foreign Ministry confirmed Tuesday that it had issued an internal tender to select a new ambassador to Jordan, as it moves to repair diplomatic ties that were badly strained following a deadly shooting incident in Amman involving an Israeli embassy guard last year.
The ministry did not provide further details about the tender, revealed after Jordanian officials reported last week that Israel had complied with several requirements for making amends. However, whether the security guard will be prosecuted over the shooting — a key Jordanian demand — remains unclear.
Israel has not had an ambassador in Jordan since July, when two Jordanians were killed and the Israeli security guard was injured in the embassy compound, during an apparent altercation between them. The details of the event are a subject of disagreement between Israel and Jordan.
Last Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that relations with Jordan were “back on track,” and indicated that he would name a new ambassador to Amman in the coming days.
Speaking to reporters, as he returned to Israel following a five-day visit to India, Netanyahu, who also serves as Israel’s foreign minister, said former ambassador Einat Schlein would be moved to another post.
“I will decide on the new ambassador soon. I very much appreciate the former ambassador and that will be apparent in her next position,” he said.
A Jordanian government spokesperson said Thursday evening that he had received from Israel an “official memorandum” apologizing for the deaths of the two Jordanians, as well as the killing of a Jordanian judge in a separate incident in 2014.
Shortly afterward, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office put out a statement announcing that the embassy, which was closed in the wake of July’s incident, will reopen.
The Jordanian spokesperson, Mohammad Momani, also said Israel had agreed to comply with all the kingdom’s preconditions for resuming regular diplomatic relations between the two sides. Those included, he said, bringing legal action against the Israeli security guard, and offering financial compensation to the bereaved Jordanian families.
In its statement Thursday night, the PMO confirmed it had come to an agreement with Jordan over both incidents and said the embassy “will return to full activity immediately.” Diverging from the terms announced by Jordan, it said Israeli authorities would come to a decision “in the coming weeks” as to whether the guard, Ziv Moyal, will stand trial over the shooting.
Israel has maintained he acted in self-defense.
On Sunday, the Reuters news agency cited an Israeli source as saying that Moyal will not be prosecuted.
Moyal shot the two Jordanians dead after one of them allegedly attacked him, sparking a diplomatic crisis between Jerusalem and Amman, and prompting all diplomatic staff, including envoy Schlein, to return to Israel. Moyal said he was attacked in his apartment by one of Jordanians who stabbed him with a screwdriver while carrying out utility work. The second man, the landlord, was apparently killed accidentally by a stray bullet when Moyal opened fire.
Another source confirmed that there was “no way” Israel would pursue criminal charges against Moyal.
Israel’s hero’s welcome for Moyal widened the rift with Jordan caused by the killing a few days earlier.
On Friday, Netanyahu also said Israel had not apologized to the Jordanians, but had rather “expressed regret.”
He said Israel had paid reparation money to the government, but not to the families of the landlord and worker killed in the scuffle. He did not say how much had been paid.
The Times of Israel Community.