Gantz in Naharayim: As PM, I’ll never miss an opportunity to achieve peace

Gantz spoke at a small ceremony in Naharyim, in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Israeli-Jordanian peace deal

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Blue and White Party head Benny Gantz in Naharayim, October 19 2019 (photo credit: COURTESY EMEK HAYARDEN REGIONAL COUNCIL)
Blue and White Party head Benny Gantz in Naharayim, October 19 2019
(photo credit: COURTESY EMEK HAYARDEN REGIONAL COUNCIL)
Blue and White Party head Benny Gantz promised to work to advance peace with Jordan as he spoke on Friday at a ceremony in Naharayim to mark the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Israeli- Jordanian peace deal on October 26, 1994.
“I’ll never miss an opportunity to achieve peace,” said Gantz, who spoke as he stood on a small tract of land that is scheduled to be returned to Jordan in the coming weeks.
Under the terms of the 1994 peace deal, Jordan agreed to leave the land in Naharayim on the Israeli side of the border for 25 years but retained the right not to extend that understanding.
The land is owned by Jews, but technically falls within the boundaries of Jordan.
Jordan also plans to ends its lease to Israel of land that has been used by Tzofar, a moshav in the South.
The event was both in support of continued peace with Israel’s Arab neighbors and a call to delay the transfer of Naharayim and Tzofar, which are used by Israeli farmers for agricultural land.
Gantz, who is expected to be given the mandate to form a government should Netanyahu fail, spoke of his respect for King Abdullah, who he said comes from a royal house of nobility and dignity that desires peace. “I am convinced that like his father, [King Abdullah] understands the great importance in continuing to cooperate with us for the sake of peace,” Gantz said.
“I pledge here that when I lead the State of Israel, I will do everything in my power to strengthen peace with Jordan and to advance that relationship.”
Many consider the area a testament to what statesmen can do when it comes to creating good relations between neighbors, and it is much easier to wage war than to wage peace, Gantz said.
“We must turn what [the former Jordanian] King Hussein and [former Israeli prime minister] Yitzhak Rabin started – a dream that began with their courageous step – into a broad and widespread reality that services both peoples,” Gantz said.
“Peace between leaders and peace on the ground will strengthen the interests of all. That’s how it is done.”
Emek Hayarden Regional Council head Idan Greenbaum said he had spoken a few days earlier with a senior Jordanian official who emphasized the importance of peace between the two countries and asked those in Israel to make sure that it does not fall prey to the extremists who want to end that peace.
Greenbaum said that relations between humans are more important than the ties to the land and if necessary, they are willing to give up the property in support of continued peace with Jordan.