Jordan emerges from Gaza-Israel showdown with little political clout June 2, 2021 Share In the final leg of his recent Middle Eastern tour, which included visits to Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Cairo, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stopped in Amman for half a day to meet King Abdullah. Blinken’s main objective was to support the shaky cease-fire reached between Palestinian factions in Gaza and Israel after an 11-day military showdown. In a press conference he held later in the Jordanian capital on May 26, Blinken said that “the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah was crucial, as it always has been in different issues, his role was essential in reaching a cease-fire in Gaza.”