Ambassador to Israel says U.S. helped settle crisis

PanARMENIAN.Net - The American ambassador to Israel says the speedy resolution of a diplomatic crisis with Jordan proves how closely Israel works with the Trump administration, The Associated Press reports.

David Friedman told Israeli lawmakers in parliament on Tuesday, July 25 that the standoff over a deadly shooting near the Israeli Embassy in Jordan could “have gone very bad” without the American intervention.

Trump’s Mideast envoy, Jason Greenblatt, met with Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday in the administration’s first high-level, on-the-ground engagement in the crisis.

Friedman said “we were able to diffuse the situation very quickly that under other circumstances could not have ended as successfully.”

The Israeli security guard involved in the shooting returned home late Monday after intense negotiations. Jordan initially said he could leave only after an investigation while Israel insisted he had diplomatic immunity.