Gantz accuses Netanyahu of ‘diplomatic neglect’ toward Jordan

Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz accuses Prime Minister Netanyahu of harming Israel’s diplomatic ties in Jordan, asserting that he is the right man to repair them.

“Unfortunately, last year, after a decade of diplomatic neglect of everything concerning Israel-Jordan relations, we lost for the first time territories that were given to us under this [peace] agreement,” Gantz says in a video statement from the Sea of Galilee.

He is referring to Naharayim and Tzofar, two enclaves along the border that Israel leased from Jordan under the 1994 treaty establishing diplomatic ties.

The areas returned to Jordanian control last year after Amman refused to extend the lease.

“I intend to rehabilitate relations with Jordan and turn them to good, active, secure and continued neighborliness,” Gantz says.

He does not specify how we will improve ties with Jordan. Gantz has vowed to annex the parts of the West Bank after the upcoming elections — something King Abdullah II has warned would negatively impact diplomatic ties — but stressed he will only do so with international backing.

Gantz, a former IDF chief of staff, also takes a shot at Netanyahu over ongoing incendiary balloon and rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip.

“This absence of complete calm in the south can’t be accepted. Instead of releasing hysterical declarations, the Israeli government should adopt a tough security policy regarding the security violations coming from the south,” he says.