The Jordanian parliament's decision on Wednesday to call for the Israeli ambassador's expulsion from the kingdom and to recall its own ambassador from Israel can be succinctly summarized as unpleasant, but not much more than that. The Jordanian parliament is a contrarian body. Its primary purpose is to let off steam. Following the Arab uprising, elections in Jordan are now more open and democratic. Consequently, it stands to reason that more Islamists are now members of the lower house. One must understand that Jordan's parliament has no role in the country's management. All it can do against the government and the king is express its contrariness. Recent events in Jerusalem are undoubtedly influencing the Jordanian street. There is no question that these events can lead to a boiling point. From Israel and the Jordanian government's perspective, it's preferable that parliament boils over instead of the street. The Jordanian media fanned the flames on Wednesday with their representation of events on the Temple Mount. In the eyes of the Jordanian media, Israel arrested a mufti and prevented Muslims from praying at the Temple Mount while Jewish settlers charged the holy site in an attempt to conquer it. The Jordanian parliament doesn't exactly pay heed to Jerusalem Day, which in its view is more of an Arab celebration than a Jewish one. Israel's Ambassador to Jordan Daniel Nevo, who has built a tremendous network of contacts in the kingdom, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry for a discussion. Because Jordan's foreign minister is currently abroad, Nevo met the interior minister. The meeting was affable, devoid of threats or even objections. Daniel Nevo isn't packing his bags, for now. I was in this movie when I served for four years as Israel's ambassador to Mauritania, an Arab country. One time it was the parliamentary speaker and another time it would be the Senate president trying to have me expelled. Government officials explained to me that this was also a way of letting off steam. The important thing is what the president says, or in this case, what the king says, and especially, what the street says. The only thing we need to remember here is that every action in Jerusalem has direct consequences in the Arab world. Jerusalem Day is a holiday for us and a day of mourning for them.
