Jordan king seeks trial for Israeli embassy gunman while Netanyahu wants execution of Palestinian attacker

King Abdullah urged Netanyahu to 'take responsibility' including a trial for the killer, while the Israeli leader called for the execution of the Palestinian who stabbed three Israelis last week.
3 min read
27 July, 2017
Both the leaders want action after the two separate incidents as al-Aqsa tensions continue [Getty]
Jordan's king on Thursday called on Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to ensure that the security guard who killed two Jordanians at the Israeli embassy in Amman faces trial, while the Israeli leader called for the execution of a Palestinian who stabbed three Israelis to death last week.

King Abdullah urged Netanyahu to "take responsibility and take legal steps including the trial of the killer", a royal court statement reported.

The Israeli embassy guard shot dead a teenage Jordanian who allegedly attacked him with a screwdriver at the Israeli embassy in Amman late on Sunday. The guard also shot dead a Jordanian standing next to the alleged attacker.

Jordan allowed the security guard to fly home to Israel on Monday after he was briefly held for questioning over the shooting.

The guard was welcomed home and greeted as a hero by Netanyahu, who embraced him and said: "You acted well, calmly and we also had an obligation to get you out."

Israel maintains that the guard had diplomatic immunity.

The king called on the Israeli leader to "implement justice instead of dealing with this crime in the manner of a political show for personal political gains".

"This kind of behaviour, which is unacceptable and provocative on all levels, has made us all angry... and feeds extremism in the region," he said.

He vowed Jordan would do everything possible towards obtaining justice for its two slain nationals.

Video: Muslim leaders in Jerusalem lift boycott on Al-Aqsa mosque prayer

Meanwhile, Netanyahu called for the execution of the Palestinian who killed three Israelis last week. The 19-year-old allegedly broke into a home in a settlement in the occupied West Bank on July 21 and stabbed four Israelis during a Sabbath dinner, killing three. He was shot and wounded by a neighbour, an off-duty soldier.

"The death penalty for terrorists, it's time to implement it in severe cases," he said while speaking with family members of the victims, a video of which was posted on Netanyahu's Twitter account.

"It's anchored in the law. You need the judges to rule unanimously on it, but if you want to know the government's position and my position as prime minister - in a case like this, of a base murderer like this - he should be executed. He should simply not smile anymore."

Tensions have been high over new Israeli security measures at the highly sensitive holy site of the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

The comments from both leaders come as clashes erupted between Israeli police and Palestinians as thousands of worshippers entered the al-Aqsa mosque compound on Thursday for the first time in two weeks.

Several Palestinians have been killed since Friday by Israeli forces across Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank, in some of the worst street violence seen here in years.

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