Jordan on Monday summoned the Israeli ambassador to protest over the behavior of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich after he was pictured speaking next to a lectern that had a map of Israel with expanded borders that incorporated the kingdom as part of the Jewish state. The symbol is well known, as it refers to the historical boundaries of British-controlled Palestine during the Mandate, when Zionist movements hoped that Jews would be granted independence in all of that area. Eventually, Britain gave the eastern part to the Hashemite rulers, while Israel eventually got independence in a smaller area to the west of the Jordan river.
The symbol is still in use by some right-wing circles, although Israel has never embraced a desire to control Jordan. Earlier Amman condemned the hard-Right Smotrich's move saying it was a provocative move by an "extremist" and "racist" minister that violated international norms and Jordan's peace treaty with Israel.
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The speech, delivered in Paris, made headlines due to the minister's comments against Palestinians' claim of nationhood, claiming there's "no such thing" as a Palestinian people.
"Is there a Palestinian history or culture? There is none," he can be heard saying in footage of the speech he gave on Sunday at a conference in France shared widely on social media. "There is no such thing as a Palestinian people."
Smotrich, who heads a religious-nationalist party in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-Right coalition, made the speech on the same day that Israeli and Palestinian officials met in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for de-escalation talks ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover holiday.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh condemned Smotrich's remarks, saying they amounted to incitement to violence. Jordan, which made peace with Israel in 1994, voiced outrage.
"It's irresponsible provocative behavior by an incumbent minister and a break of international norms and the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty. This extremist behavior pushes towards escalation," Sinan al Majali, a spokesperson for Jordan's Foreign Ministry, said.
Jordan called on the Israeli government to take a "clear and frank" stance, Majali said. Israel's Foreign Ministry later wrote on Twitter: "Israel is committed to the 1994 peace agreement with Jordan. There has been no change in the position of the State of Israel, which recognizes the territorial integrity of the Hashemite Kingdom."
A spokesperson for Smotrich said the lectern was placed by the conference organizers and that the minister was a guest. A statement by the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said that, by denying the existence of the Palestinian people and their legitimate national rights in their homeland, Israeli leaders "foster an environment that fuels Jewish extremism and terrorism against our people".
Western allies also criticized the remarks. "We utterly object to that kind of language," said John Kirby, US National Security Council spokesperson. "We don't want to see any rhetoric, any action or rhetoric ... that can stand in the way or become an obstacle to a viable two-state solution, and language like that does."
The European Union said it "firmly deplores yet another unacceptable comment by Minister Smotrich," calling it dangerous and counterproductive.
Egypt, the first Arab country to sign a peace deal with Israel, rejected his remarks as well. After a Palestinian terrorist killed two Jewish settlers near the West Bank town of Huwara last month, and settlers responded by torching homes and cars there, killing one Palestinian, Smotrich also drew global outrage when he said Hawara should be "erased". In the face of international condemnation, he later said he "misspoke", but he did not apologize.
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