Jordan's King Abdullah II Accuses Israel of Regional Threat at UN

King Abdullah II of Jordan delivered a sharp critique of Israel at the UN General Assembly, labeling the country a threat to the entire region and accusing the international community of ignoring this danger. He stated that for years he had warned about the perils of prolonging the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, noting that nations have opted to "manage" it rather than resolve it.

The Jordanian monarch linked the current Middle East crisis to the international community's long-standing tolerance of Israel's violations of UN resolutions. "The expansionist appetites of the current Israeli government are now a threat to the entire region," Abdullah II declared. "Syria is the latest warning that the world prefers not to see. Repeated incursions, expansion, new facts on the ground, including around vital water resources. Step by calculated step, Israel tests how far it can go. And each time the international community looks away, Israel realizes it can go further, crossing borders and laws."

An Israeli analyst described the speech as one of the harshest anti-Israel addresses in the history of the General Assembly. However, official Jerusalem's reaction was notably restrained. The Israeli Foreign Ministry offered brief critical remarks, recalling Jordan's renunciation of Judea and Samaria and the subsequent loss of Palestinian citizenship. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not publicly respond to the accusations.

Earlier, Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, had suggested Jordan should control areas B and C in Judea and Samaria, a statement his party later clarified was a misstatement, meaning areas A and B. This remark had previously drawn strong criticism from Netanyahu and his allies.