Jewish settlers threaten to colonise Jordanian territory

Israeli media reports claim that dozens of Jewish settlers have crossed the border between Israel and the Kingdom of Jordan and threatened to establish a colony on Jordanian territory. The illegal settlers’ move was in response to the Kingdom’s stand on Israel’s plans to demolish the historic Mugharbeh Bridge leading to the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem.

According to the reports, around 40 Jewish settlers crossed the border on Monday and barricaded themselves inside an abandoned building in a closed military zone. The settlers declared their intention to establish a colony named Metzudat Ze’ev after right-wing Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky, who called for the expansion of the Zionist state into what was then called Transjordan.

However, an IDF spokesperson denied that the right-wing Israeli activists had breached Jordan’s border, claiming that they didn’t cross the international border but stayed inside a closed military zone in Israel. Jordanian government spokesperson Rakan Al-Majali, the State Minister for Media Affairs and Communications, said that no Israelis had entered the Al-Maghtas area through Jordan, although “some extremist Israeli youths entered the Israeli side of the area”.

In a statement published by the official Jordanian news agency, Al-Majali added that the Kingdom of Jordan deals with Israel on the basis of the Wadi Araba peace treaty and doesn’t pay attention to extremist, violent and irresponsible Israeli settlers.