Jordan said on Thursday that Israel had formally apologized for the deaths of two of its citizens killed by an Israeli security guard last July in an incident that soured ties and led to the closure of the Israeli embassy in Amman.
Jordanian government spokesman Mohammad Al Momani was quoted by state news agency Petra as saying the Israeli Foreign Ministry had sent a memorandum expressing "deep regrets and apologies" over the incident at the embassy, pledging to take legal action in the case and offering compensation to the families of the men killed by the guard.
Jordan had said it would not allow Israel to reopen its embassy in Amman until it launched legal proceedings against the security guard.
The Prime Minister's Office said on Thursday that the embassy in Amman will resume full operations immediately and that "Israeli authorities will continue reviewing the materials regarding the July 2017 incident and anticipate making a decision in the coming weeks. Israel attaches great importance to its strategic relations with Jordan, and the two countries will act to advance their cooperation and to strengthen the peace treaty between them."
The statement did not mention compensation or an apology.
The handling of the shooting had tested ties between Israel and Jordan, one of only two Arab states that have signed a peace treaty with Israel. The two countries have a long history of close security ties.
The embassy was closed shortly after Israel hastily repatriated the guard under diplomatic immunity to prevent Jordanian authorities from interrogating him or prosecuting him. The Israeli ambassador and embassy staff were also recalled after the incident.
Jordan subsequently said it would not permit the return of an Israeli ambassador to Amman unless Israel launched legal proceedings against the guard.
Jordan maintained that even if the guard had diplomatic immunity that did not mean he could not be punished.
Israel has now pledged to "implement and follow up legal measures" in the case and also take action in the shooting of an unarmed Jordanian judge by an Israeli soldier in an incident at the Allenby Bridge border crossing in 2014, Momani said.
Israel would pay compensation to the three families, he said.
At the time, Israel said the armed guard opened fire after being attacked and lightly wounded by the Jordanian man, who was delivering furniture at his home within the embassy compound, and acted in self-defense in what Israeli officials called a "terrorist attack." It said it was highly unlikely it would prosecute the security guard.
Jordanian officials have treated the shooting as a criminal case and say the two unarmed Jordanians – the other was a bystander – were killed in cold blood by the armed guard.
The government statement said the Israeli government had met all of Jordan's demands for the return of the ambassador and the reopening of the embassy.
Many Jordanians, in a country where the peace treaty with Israel is unpopular and pro-Palestinian sentiment widespread, were outraged that the guard was allowed to leave and staged protests calling on the authorities to scrap the 1994 peace treaty.
A televised welcome home for the guard and a hero's embrace from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had enraged King Abdullah. In a rare outburst, he accused Netanyahu of using the incident as a "political show" saying it was "provocative on all fronts."
