Israel closed its embassy in Amman, Jordan, Thursday morning and brought the staff home a day early in anticipation of mass demonstrations organized on Facebook under the banner, "No Zionist embassy on Jordanian territory."
The decision was made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman as a security precaution.
Israeli embassy personnel normally spend the week in Amman and come home Friday to be with their families over the weekend.
On Wednesday, pro-Palestinian activists burned Israeli and American flags across from the Israeli embassy.
Despite the threat on Facebook of a "million man march," Jordanian authorities assured Israel they are monitoring the situation and did not anticipate the mass rioting that took place at Israeli's embassy in Cairo last Friday.
The Egyptian government expressed regret over last week's rioting, saying it detained more than 100 people for questioning. Three demonstrators were killed and more than 1,000 injured in the riots, Egypt's state media reported.
A day after the incident, Egypt's interim government -- the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces -- broadened and extended the country's emergency law to June 2012. It was originally slated to end on September 30, 2011.
In a television interview, Egypt's interior minister said the law would enable police to deal with lawlessness and attacks on official facilities, such as took place at the Israeli embassy. International law requires host countries to protect foreign embassies.
Netanyahu thanked Egyptian authorities and stressed the importance of returning the ambassador and embassy staff as soon as possible.
Source: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2011/September/Israeli-Embassy-Evacuated-in-Jordan/
Source: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2011/September/Israeli-Embassy-Evacuated-in-Jordan/
1 comment:
Have no fear, Israel will send in the (U.S.) Marines
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