Israel’s Gantz meets Jordanian King Abdullah II in Amman

Amman (QNN)- Israeli War Minister Benny Gantz met with Jordanian King Abdullah II in Amman on Wednesday, discussing security and diplomatic concerns, Gantz’s office said.

In a rare public sit-down with the monarch, this was the second meeting between King Abdullah and Gantz in the past year, with the first happening secretly last February.

According to Gantz’s office, the meeting focused on security and policy topics.

In a statement, the Jordanian monarchy said Abdullah specifically discussed the “importance of maintaining calm in the Palestinian Territories and taking all measures to create the horizon needed to achieve just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution.”

Israel’s relations with Jordan reached a nadir in the past few years, owing in large part to bad relations between Abdullah and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s ongoing attacks and violations against Palestinian people.

There was a long period of tensions between Abdullah and Netanyahu, the last one was in March when Amman delayed approving Netanyahu’s flight path over the country to the United Arab Emirates in retaliation for the Jordanian crown prince’s canceled trip to Al-Aqsa mosque.

Both sides, however, have worked to improve relations in recent months.

Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also made his own secret trip to Amman to meet with the king this past summer, shortly after Foreign Minister Yair Lapid met his Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi, on the Jordanian side of the Allenby Bridge crossing in a public meeting.

Also in August, President Isaac Herzog also traveled to Amman secretly to meet the king.