Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Friday that he plans to name a new ambassador to Jordan in the near future. The statement comes shortly after Israel and Jordan agreed to put a monthslong diplomatic spat behind them.
Relations with Jordan soured after an Israeli security guard at the Israeli Embassy in Amman was attacked in July 2017 and in defending himself killed the assailant and a Jordanian bystander.
Following the incident, the guard and the Israeli ambassador returned to Israel. The guard received a hero's welcome at home, angering the Jordanians, who demanded that he be questioned and potentially prosecuted in Jordan.
Netanyahu spoke about the plan to re-normalize relations with Jordan Saturday, saying, "It is strategically important for Israel to preserve these relations."
Netanyahu said the U.S. took part in ending the crisis, with the help of U.S. President Donald Trump's advisers Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, who spoke with the Jordanian royal house, as did Mossad Director Yossi Cohen, who was sent to represent Israel in Jordan.
Arab media reports suggested that Israel agreed to pay Jordan $5 million in a compensation package to be distributed to the families of a Jordanian judge killed at the Allenby border crossing in March 2014 and the two Jordanians killed in the July 2017 incident.
A state official said that under the agreement, the former Israeli Ambassador to Jordan, Einat Schlein, would be reassigned, and that Jordanians would rescind their demand that the security guard face prosecution.
According to reports in Jordan, Israel will announce the identity of the new ambassador in the coming days.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted Netanyahu as saying Israel has "a strong interest in this relationship."
The report said Netanyahu had stressed that Israel would compensate the Jordanian government and not the families of the deceased.
