The meeting today (Wednesday) between the king and Gantz did not happen just because of the “summit of Rosh HaAyin” between Defense Minister and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, but it contributed greatly to its success. Palestinian and to improve the situation in the West Bank.
This was not the first meeting between the King and Ganz. They have known each other for many years since Gantz was chief of staff. Their relationship is warm and close. In the past, the meetings between them were kept secret or published long afterwards.
In November 2014, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with King Abdullah at a palace in Amman. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry who mediated between the two to renew understandings about the status quo on the Temple Mount was there as well. This was also the last time the Jordanians published a joint photo of the king with Netanyahu. It was seven years before the palace published another picture on its own initiative with a senior Israeli official – Defense Minister Bnei Gantz.
The stalemate in relations with Jordan during Netanyahu’s time was rooted in the shaky relations between the king and the Israeli prime minister, but more so in policy on the Palestinian issue. King Abdullah perceived Netanyahu’s steps against the Palestinian Authority and his refusal to take steps to improve the situation in the West Bank as a step that was also directed against him and harmed the stability of the kingdom.
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“The king’s main message to the defense minister was – ‘Congratulations. Keep it up,'” said a senior Israeli official who was involved in the contents of the meeting. According to him, stability in the West Bank is very important to the Jordanians. The king would also like to see political progress, but he understands that in the political reality in Israel, promoting security and economic cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians is the best that can be achieved. He sees Ganz as the bearer of this flag.
But the Palestinian issue was not the only issue in the meeting between Ganz and King. Maybe not even the main topic of conversation between them that lasted an hour and a half. The Jordanians wanted to talk about the situation in Syria. The king has been heating up relations with the Assad regime recently in light of the understanding that the Syrian dictator is here to stay, but the border with Syria is the most sensitive point for him. Security cooperation with Israel over the situation in Syria is critical for the Jordanians.
Like other countries in the Jordanian region are concerned about what appears to be a creeping US withdrawal from the region. The head of the Defense Ministry’s political-security division, Zohar Felty, informed the king’s advisers that the Biden administration had pledged to Israel that the United States would not withdraw its forces from Syria and Iraq in the foreseeable future.
Ganz’s meetings with Abbas and King Abdullah and his role in relations with the United States on the Iranian issue make him more dominant than ever in Israel’s foreign and security policy. Much above and beyond his tenure as defense minister under Netanyahu – then he has repeatedly revealed that Netanyahu is acting behind his back or blocking him from advancing moves. In the current government, Ganz is much more successful at this.
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