Jordanians urge Israel ambassador out

Jordanian protesters have taken to the streets to demand closure of the Israeli embassy in Amman following the killing of a Jordanian judge by Israeli soldiers.

During a protest in the Jordanian capital after Friday Prayers, demonstrators called for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador from the country.

They also called on the Jordanian parliament to annul the 1994 peace deal with Israel.

The 38-year-old Jordanian judge, Raed Zaytar, was shot dead on March 10 by Israeli soldiers at the border with the occupied West Bank.

Jordan’s Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour called the shooting a hideous crime, for which Israel was “completely responsible.”

“Jordan has pressured Israel to formally apologize. Jordan is now part of the probe into the shooting,” Ensour said a day after the shooting.

Israeli authorities claim that the judge was shot for trying to grab an Israeli soldier’s weapon after crossing into the West Bank.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed regret over the death of the judge.

The Palestinian Authority in Ramallah has also condemned the killing saying it was a “shooting at close range” by Israeli troops.