Concerned about a demonstration planned outside its embassy in Amman, the Israeli government brought its ambassador and most embassy staff back to Israel late Wednesday night.
The move reflected concern about a possible repeat of an incident last Friday in Cairo, in which protesters stormed the Israeli Embassy, and Israel’s ambassador in Egypt and his staff were airlifted back to Israel. After intervention by top U.S. officials, Egyptian police and military broke up the protest and commandos extricated six Israeli security guards who were trapped in the embassy.
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inShare..A foreign ministry spokesman in Jerusalem said that Daniel Nevo, Israel’s ambassador to Jordan, and his staff normally return to Israel from Amman on Thursdays for routine weekend leave, ahead of the Muslim Sabbath.
Because of the protest planned for Thursday, they left in a convoy a day earlier.
The embassy staff plans to return to Amman on Sunday, the foreign ministry spokesman said. He said one diplomat and some security personnel stayed in Amman, following routine procedure.
Reports from Amman said security has been stepped up in the area around the embassy in advance of the protest, which activists in Jordan have declared a “million-man march” against the Israeli mission.
The planned gathering follows a series of anti-Israel protests outside Israel’s embassy in Cairo, which climaxed with last Friday’s attack. Jordan and Egypt are the only two Arab countries that have peace treaties with Israel.
Israel is also facing renewed condemnation from Turkey over a deadly raid on a Turkish-flagged ship leading an aid flotilla to the Gaza Strip last year. Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador and downgraded relations this month after Israel refused to apologize for the killings. Those tensions, and a looming confrontation in the United Nations next week over a Palestinian bid for recognition of statehood, have contributed to a growing sense of siege in Israel.
On Wednesday, a small group of demonstrators held a rare protest outside the U.S. Embassy in Amman, demanding its closing over reported WikiLeaks cables that suggested a covert U.S. plan to turn Jordan into a home for Palestinians.
The concept, which is favored by a small, extremist minority within Israel, has not been embraced by the United States government, which has called for a two-state solution negotiated by Israel and the Palestinians.
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