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Former Jordanian Deputy PM Mamdouh Al-Abadi said in a July 12, 2020 interview on Alghad TV (United Kingdom): "our relations with the Israelis and the Jews in this region are existential and beyond a border dispute." He added that if Israel annexes parts of the West Bank, this would constitute an act of aggression against Jordan. Al-Abadi said that all options are on the table if this happens, including sanctions, cutting off relations with Israel, annulling the Jordan-Israel peace treaty and gas deals, and returning to the pre-1967 state of affairs. He said that the issue of Israeli annexation of the Jordan Valley is a matter of life and death for Jordan.
Mamdouh Al-Abadi: "I studied in Britain in the beginning of the 1970s, and I saw Golda Meir on TV asking this question: 'Where are the Palestinians? I am a Palestinian.' She did not know that there was going to be a PLO, she did not know that there was going to be an Intifada, and she did not know that [Hamas] was going to be in Gaza. If the Israelis had taken parts of Europe or Britain, they could have been worry-free. But today and tomorrow... A few months ago, a military operation was carried out by a 17-year-old [Palestinian]. He had no weapon, so he took an Israeli soldier's weapon and killed the soldier and his friend. I forgot his name. Abu Hammad, Abu Hamed, something like that... His grandfather had been born after 1948, yet did this young 17- or 16-year-old boy forget [that he is a Palestinian]? What would Golda Meir say about that? What would Netanyahu and the others say? The hatred and the struggle between [the two] peoples is historic. Therefore, I insist that our relations with the Israelis and Jews in this region is existential and not just a border dispute. "
[...]
Interviewer: "If Israel annexes parts of the West Bank, how will Jordan react? "
Al-Abadi: "We believe that this would be a real act of aggression against Jordan. All options are on the table, including going back to the pre-1967 state of affairs. There are measures that we can take, such as cutting off relations [with Israel], annulment of the peace treaty and the gas deal with Israel, and so on. All options are on the table.
[...]
"We are capable of taking a firm and true stand. The issue of annexation, especially with regard to the Jordan Valley and the settlements [in it], is a matter of life and death for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. "
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