Amman accepts nomination of new Israeli envoy

AMMAN — Jordan has agreed to the Israeli government’s  nomination of Amir Weissbrod as its new ambassador to the Kingdom, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported, citing an official source.

This came as a response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on a letter from Israel after all formalities had been completed, he said. 

Jordan last year told Israel to “hold on” with regard to the return of the former envoy, Einat Schlein, to Amman after an embassy guard shot dead two Jordanians in a nearby residential building rented by the embassy for its staff. 

On July 23rd, 16-year-old Mohammad Jawawdeh was killed, along with the landlord, Bashar Hamarneh, a doctor. The killer left Jordan to Israel protected by his diplomatic immunity, a matter which triggered widespread public outrage in Jordan. 

Later, Amman was angered when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a hero’s welcome to the man and sent a letter to Israel stating that it would not allow the return of the Israeli mission until it received guarantees of a serious investigation into the case, stressing that Jordan wanted proper legal action to be taken against the suspect first.

Earlier in January, Israel officially apologised for the incident and compensated the families of the two victims, and for the family of Raed Zuaiter, a judge at the Amman Court of First Instance who was killed at King Hussein Bridge during an argument with an Israeli soldier in March 2014.