Jordanian King Abdullah has warned that Israel's long-term future would remain in jeopardy unless a permanent solution to the Middle East conflict was achieved, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
"I think the long-term future of Israel is in jeopardy unless we solve our problems," Abdullah told the paper in an interview that appeared online Tuesday.
The Jordanian monarch, who is scheduled to arrive to Washington on Saturday to attend President Barack Obama's Nuclear Security Summit, cautioned against "wasting too much time" in resolving the conflict in the region.
Pointing to the "tremendous tension" in the Middle East, Abullah warned that the "status quo is unacceptable."
"Over the Israeli-Lebanese border; if you spoke [to some Lebanese] today they feel there is going to be a war any second," he said. "[It] looks like there is an attempt by certain groups to promote a third intifada, which would be disastrous. Jerusalem as you are well aware is a tinderbox that could go off at any time, and then there is the overriding concern about military action between Israel and Iran."
"So with all these things in the background, the status quo is not acceptable; what will happen is that we will continue to go around in circles until the conflict erupts, and there will be suffering by peoples because there will be a war," added Abdullah.
Abdullah lauded Obama's efforts in pursuing a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, but said: "They've had other things to deal with on their shoulders. The problem is what happens over the next couple of months."
"The job of Jordan and the other countries in the international community is to keep common sense and keep hope alive until America can bring its full weight on the Israelis and the Palestinians to get their act together and move the process forward," said the Jordanian king.
"We're sort of the power brigade... us and other countries, trying to see where issues of contention between Israelis and Palestinians and make the atmosphere more amiable. With the background that evil does not sleep," said Abdullah.
"There are those out there on all sides unfortunately, rejectionists, I think that's maybe a good term to use these days, who will do everything they can to spoil the future of Israelis and the Palestinians," he added
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