Jordan FM Safadi proposes peace deal, as Netanyahu ally warns Amman 'next' after Lebanon

An Israeli businessman believed to be close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made a thinly veiled threat to Jordan, as Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi proposed a peace deal to end the war and guarantee Israel’s “security”.

Roni Mizrachi, a well-known Israeli contractor, told right-wing Israeli Channel 14 television last week that "what we’re seeing today in Lebanon will be in Jordan next”, claiming that Tehran could gain influence in the kingdom similar to what it has on Lebanese groups such as Hezbollah.

It follows a massive escalation in Israeli attacks on Lebanon over the past week, which has seen 1,000 killed and around 1 million displaced with Arab foreign ministers, such as Jordan's Ayman Safadi, condemning the assault.

"I want to tell you… why we are all shortsighted. Because we see Lebanon today, in 15 years it will be Jordan, the next country where the Iranians will have interests," he said.

"Therefore Lebanon must be dealt with severely and the head of the snake must be hit. Iran should be hit with electromagnetic bombs - tactical bombs including atomic bombs - not to harm people but to hit their facilities. This is possible and we have the capability."

Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1994, and despite their continued diplomatic ties, relations became more strained after Israel’s indiscriminate war on Gaza and actions in Lebanon.

Most of Jordan’s citizens are of Palestinian origin and there have been regular protests against the Gaza war outside the Israeli embassy in Amman.

On 8 September, a Jordanian truck driver opened fire on Israeli security guards at the King Hussein border crossing between Jordan and the West Bank, killing three of them.

Since then, Israel has killed hundreds more civilians in Gaza, continued its assault on the West Bank, and is threatening a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.

Soon after Mizrachi made his comments regarding Jordan, the kingdom's Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told a press conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that Arab and Muslim countries would guarantee Israel’s security if it agreed to the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, based on the 1967 borders.

“The Israeli prime minister came here today and said that Israel is surrounded by those who want to destroy it… we’re here - members of the Muslim-Arab committee, mandated by 57 Arab and Muslim countries -and I can tell you very unequivocally, all of us are willing to guarantee the security of Israel in the context of Israel ending the occupation and allowing for the emergence of a Palestinian state,” Safadi said.

He accused Netanyahu of deliberately creating a "danger" to Israel because he opposed a two-state solution.

"Can you ask Israeli officials what is their end-game - other than just wars and wars and wars?" he asked.

Israel has, in the past week, taken its war on Gaza to Lebanon, refusing to agree to a ceasefire on either front.

Over 41,500 people have been killed in Gaza since last October, while 700 have been killed in the ongoing Israeli attack in Lebanon, amid fears of a regional war.