Israel names new Jordan envoy after diplomatic row resolved

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February 8, 2018 10:16 AM

The foreign ministry named Amir Weissbrod as the new ambassador, the first since the incident at the Israeli embassy in Amman led the Jewish state to withdraw its staff.

Israel named a new ambassador to Jordan on Thursday, the foreign ministry announced, bringing to an end a months-long spat sparked by a deadly shooting.

On July 23, a security guard at the embassy shot dead a Jordanian worker who had stabbed him in the back with a screwdriver after coming to an apartment to install furniture, according to the Israeli foreign ministry.

A second Jordanian, the apartment's landlord, was also shot dead -- apparently by accident.

The guard was briefly questioned by investigators in Jordan before returning to Israel along with the rest of the embassy staff, where he received a hero's welcome from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu along with ambassador Einat Shlein.

The incident and Israeli response sparked widespread anger in Jordan, and Amman later said it would not allow the embassy staff to return until Israel opened a serious investigation and offered an apology.

An agreement was reached in January in which Israel expressed regret over the shooting and agreed compensation, according to reports in Israeli media.

Jordan and Egypt are the only two Arab nations that have peace treaties with Israel.

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