100 Jewish group leaders to meet king in Amman

Conference of Presidents to meet Jordanian King, express support for last month’s low-level Israeli-Palestinian talks.

By HERB KEINON
King Abdullah of Jordan 311 (photo credit: REUTERS)
King Abdullah of Jordan 311
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Nearly 100 leaders of US Jewish organizations will travel to Jordan Tuesday to meet King Abdullah II and show support for his sponsorship of last month’s low-level Israeli-Palestinian talks.
The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, currently holding their annual meeting in Jerusalem, is scheduled to meet both Abdullah and Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh.
The organization issued a statement saying that in these “turbulent times” it wanted to meet the King and “commend him for Jordan’s role – and his in particular – in supporting negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, and seeking to be a source of stability in a region in turmoil.”
Malcolm Hoenlein, the group’s executive vice president, has met regularly over the years with various Arab leaders, and in December 2010 went to Damascus to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Among the issues expected to be discussed in Jordan are Iran, the turmoil in the region, and the Israeli-Palestinian talks, which are once again stymied.
Israel and the Palestinians met five times in Jordan in January, amid hope the meetings would lead to a positive dynamic and the start of more substantive talks.
Those hopes were not realized, and the last meeting was held on January 25, with the Palestinians saying they would not continue the talks until Israel ended all settlement construction, released a number of Palestinians prisoners and accepted the 1967 lines as the baseline of future talks.
Israel has said it will not continue the talks until it becomes clear whether Hamas will be part of a new Palestinian unity government as a result of the Fatah-Hamas unity agreement signed recently in Doha.
“We have had a long relationship with the King and his late father,” the Conference’s statement said. “Jordan is a key party in the region, and we value greatly the strong relationship between the Kingdom and Israel.”