Jordan: Excluding East Jerusalem from the settlement freeze is "unacceptable"

The statement was declared by the Jordanian Foreign Minister, Nasser Al Judeh, during his talks in Madrid on Saturday evening with his Spanish counterpart, Miguel Moratinos. The discussions focused on the latest developments related to the international efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East.

Judeh stressed, in declarations announced by the official Jordanian media outlets, on the need “to intensify international efforts to resume negotiations on the basis of a two-state solution and international reference terms agreed within a regional context which may achieve a comprehensive peace in the region”. He also highlighted the importance of the Spanish role, which will hold the presidency of the European Union next year, in pushing international efforts to achieve peace in the region and to resume negotiations based on a clear time-table, monitoring mechanisms and binding international guarantees regarding an independent Palestinian state on all the lands occupied in 1967 with East Jerusalem its capital.

He renewed his confirmations that a unilateral Israeli declaration for a partial settlement in the occupied West Bank is “an incomplete step and doesn’t meet the required conditions within the international community’s vision to achieve the two-state solution,” stressing that “the failure to include East Jerusalem in the process of cessation of settlement is unacceptable and incompatible with the international consensus.” It is worth mentioning that that international consensus considers East Jerusalem as part of the territories occupied in 1967 and recognizes that Jerusalem is a central issue in the final status negotiations.

Judeh insisted that the “launch of serious negotiations on the basis of a two-state solution and international terms of reference agreed upon that start from where it stopped and addresses all issues of final settlement – on top of which are the borders, Jerusalem, refugees and security – is the only approach that would ensure security, stability and peace in the region.”