Israeli family of 8 wanders into Jordan

Ultra-Orthodox couple and their six children set to be returned shortly, after contacts between IDF, Foreign Ministry and Jordanian authorities

An ultra-Orthodox couple and their six children were picked up by Jordanian authorities Wednesday night after illegally crossing the border into the neighboring country.

The Beit Shemesh family was promptly placed under arrest. They were set to be returned to Israel Thursday, after contacts between the IDF and Foreign Ministry and the Jordanian authorities, and at noon were waiting on the Jordanian side of the border crossing.

The reason for their border crossing was unknown, but Channel 10 reported that they were hiking near the border and may have crossed it unknowingly.

A police source told Israel Radio, he believes the family hopped the border intentionally after failing to cross through the official border crossing, though he offered no reason why they would do so.

The incident occurred at a time of tension in Israeli-Jordanian relations, though security coordination between the two countries is good, Israeli military sources say.

Two weeks ago, the Jordanian Parliament voted unanimously in favor of petitioning the government to expel Israel’s ambassador in Amman and recall Jordan’s ambassador in Tel Aviv in protest of alleged Israeli desecration of holy sites in Jerusalem.

And last month, a majority of Jordan’s parliament petitioned the government to pardon the Jordanian soldier who murdered seven Israeli schoolgirls during a school trip at the border in 1997. A source in the Jordanian parliament said King Abdullah did not intend to grand the request to free Ahmad Musa Mustafa Daqamseh, who is serving life imprisonment with hard labor for the murders.

This weekend, the king is hosting a meeting of the World Economic Forum on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea, to be attended by world and regional leaders, including a sizable Israeli delegation. President Shimon Peres is to travel to Jordan on Sunday to participate in a panel at the conference, and may meet with the king, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, other Arab leaders, and US Secretary of State John Kerry.