Jordan’s Abdullah: Israel’s government is no peace partner, its Greater Israel call would violate neighbors’ sovereignty, its Al-Aqsa rhetoric will spark ‘religious war’

Jordan’s King Abdullah II lashes out at Israel in his speech to the UN General Assembly, spending nearly the entirety of his speech on the matter of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

He labels the war in Gaza as “one of the darkest moments in this institution’s history,” but adds that the conflict has stretched back for decades.

“How long will we be satisfied with condemnation after condemnation without concrete action? When it comes to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, it seems that what unfolds in the halls of power is theory; the struggles and suffering on the ground are reality,” he says.

Abdullah says that interim deals between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization have “served as a distraction as Israel grabbed more land, expanded illegal settlements, demolished homes, and displaced entire neighborhoods. Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem have been vandalized and desecrated by those under government protection.”

“And throughout all these years, Israeli families too have not been able to live in true security because military action cannot bring the safety they need. Nowhere is that more evident than in Gaza,” he says.

“More than 60,000 Palestinians killed, 50,000 children injured or killed, miles of burnt-out rubble. Neighborhoods, hospitals, schools, farms, even mosques and churches in ruins, widespread starvation. And what we are seeing is only a glimpse because never in our modern history has the lenses of international media been obstructed like this from capturing the reality on the ground,” Abdullah says, referencing the unverified toll of the war provided by the Hamas-run Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

“Furthermore, the current Israeli government’s provocative call for a so-called Greater Israel can only be realized through the blatant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its neighbors. And there is nothing ‘great’ about that. I can’t help but wonder if a similar outrageous call were made by an Arab leader, would it be met with the same global apathy?” he says.

“The international community must stop entertaining the illusion that this government is a willing partner for peace,” says the king, whose country signed a full peace treaty with Israel in 1994. “Far from it. Its actions on the ground are dismantling the very foundations on which peace could stand and intentionally burying the very idea of a Palestinian state,” he states.

“Its hostile rhetoric calling for the targeting of Al-Aqsa Mosque will incite a religious war that would reach far beyond the region and lead to an all-out clash that no nation will be able to escape,” he adds.

The Temple Mount, which was the site of the ancient Jewish Temples and now houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, has been one of the most volatile flashpoints in the Middle East.

Since first receiving the national security portfolio in 2022, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has continuously asserted that his policy is to allow Jewish prayer atop the Temple Mount, flouting the status quo, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has insisted remains in place.

Abdullah commends nations for supporting a deal that “ensures the release of all hostages, unhindered humanitarian aid, and support for the Palestinian people as they rebuild.”