Israel, Jordan Open Embassies in Each Other’s Largest Cities
In a historic move, former adversaries Israel and Jordan officially opened embassies Sunday in each other’s largest cities, making Jordan the second Arab country to establish an embassy in the Jewish state.
Jordanian Foreign Ministry official Omar Rifai said the raising of his national flag in Tel Aviv marked not only the implementation of an October peace treaty that ended a 46-year state of war between Jordan and Israel “but also a new beginning in our bilateral relations for the benefit of both our peoples.”
The Tel Aviv ceremony drew applause from onlookers, in sharp contrast with the opening of Israel’s embassy in Amman earlier Sunday, which sparked protests by hundreds of Muslim militants and leftists who described the occasion as a “black day.”
Ambassadors will be exchanged in about six weeks.
In Amman, Israeli Foreign Ministry official Yaov Biran unveiled a plaque reading “Embassy of Israel” in English, Arabic and Hebrew before raising the blue and white flag on a pole outside the Forte Grand Hotel in the city’s financial district.
Biran said he hoped the move will inspire Syria and Lebanon to reach similar treaties with Israel. Egypt, the only other Arab nation with an embassy in Israel, made peace with the Jewish state in 1979.
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