Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel s diplomatic reporter
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Jordan s King Abdullah II, left, at the Royal Palace in Amman, Jordan, on January 16, 2014. (AP/Yousef Allan, Jordanian Royal Palace)
Years of Jordanian frustration with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boiled over this week, as officials in Amman appeared to accuse him of endangering the region for political reasons and alleged that Israel had violated agreements with them.
At a press conference Thursday, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi assailed “those who are toying with the region and its peoples’ right to live in peace for the sake of electoral and populist concerns… destroying the trust which is the basis for ending the conflict.”
Defense Cooperation Between Israel, Gulf States Possible, Jerusalem Officials Say Uri Cohen
Foes-turned-friends stand to gain from mutual assistance
Israel is open to cooperating militarily with Arab states who till recently were official adversaries of the Jewish state, a top Israeli security official said Tuesday.
“Of course, there are a lot of advantages,” said Moshe Patel, who heads the nation’s Missile Defense Organization, when asked about possible missile technology exchanges between Israel and its newly found allies in the Gulf. “That information can be shared.”
Patel’s remarks were made on the backdrop of Jerusalem’s latest successful military exercise, which saw multilayered testing of the entire Israeli missile defense arsenal.