Egypt and Jordan: Don’t give up on two-state solution
Published February 21, 2017
(JTA) — The heads of Egypt and Jordan said a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be based on having two states.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt and King Abdullah of Jordan met Tuesday in Cairo.
“The two sides discussed future movements to break the gridlock within the Middle East peace process, especially with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration taking power,” read a statement issued after the meeting.
“They also discussed mutual coordination to reach a two-state solution and establish a Palestinian state based on the June 4, 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as a capital which is a national constant that cannot be given up.”
The leaders also reportedly discussed Jerusalem and the maintenance of the status quo on the Temple Mount.
The meeting came days after the Israeli daily Haaretz first published a report revealing that one year ago, then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry presented a plan for a regional peace initiative to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a secret meeting in Aqaba that included Abdullah and al-Sisi.
The deal would have included recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and a renewal of talks with the Palestinians with the support of the Arab countries.
The meeting also comes after last week’s meeting in Washington, D.C., between Netanyahu and Trump, in which Trump did not commit to a two-state solution in a break from U.S. policy from the early 2000s.
