Jordanian papers carry Israeli call to stop praising terror

After op-ed hails ‘heroic’ anti-Israel violence, official Israeli request to refrain from printing ‘barbaric’ articles wins rare resonance

An Israeli demand to refrain from praising terror attacks against Israelis was cited in Jordanian newspapers Wednesday, after an op-ed in one Amman paper described recent terrorist acts in Israel as “heroic.”

In the protest communication, drafted by Israel’s embassy in Amman, officials claimed the opinion piece, published this week in Jordanian daily Ad-Dustour under the headline “We must rely on the heroics in the West Bank and Jerusalem,” was inflaming tensions between Israel and the Hashemite kingdom and inciting violence against Israelis.

“The Israeli Embassy expresses its repugnance and absolute opposition to such shameful words that call to harm innocent civilians. It is full-fledged incitement towards killing and violence,” the message said.

It further stated it expected Jordanian media outlets to cease publishing such “barbaric” articles.

According to teh Hebrew-language Ynet news site, this was the first time Jordanian newspapers agreed to publish an Israeli statement.

Amman-based Ad-Dustour was established in 1967 as a result of a merger of two publications, Falestin and Al Manar, which had published in the West Bank and ceased their activities following the 1967 war.

Since signing a peace agreement on October 26, 1994, Israel and Jordan have known an ambivalent relationship.

In a reception in honor of Jordan’s 69th Independence Day last week, Jordan’s ambassador to Israel Walid Obeidat hailed the increasing bilateral cooperation between Israel and Jordan — especially in the fields of water and gas.

At the same event, Israeli President Rivlin praised Jordan as a “shining light of tolerance and harmony” and an “island of stability in a very complicated region.”

But in November, Obeidat was recalled to Jordan due to alleged Israeli “violations” regarding the tenuous status at the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, when police clashed with Palestinian youths who were throwing stones at them. He returned to Tel Aviv in February.

Last October, Obeidat warned Israel that continued settlement construction and attempts to change the delicate status quo at the Temple Mount could endanger the two-decade-old peace treaty between Jordan and Israel.

Raphael Ahren contributed to this report.