Jordan Names New Ambassador to Israel

Jordan has named carrier diplomat Walid Obeidat as a new ambassador to Israel, filling a position that has been vacant since 2010, a senior official said on Friday.

"The council of ministers has decided to appoint Walid Obeidat as an ambassador to Israel," the official told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity.

"No date has been set yet for his departure to Israel."

Ali al-Ayed left his post as ambassador to Israel to become information minister in mid-2010 and since then the post has been vacant.

The United States has called on Jordan to appoint a new ambassador in Israel, but Amman has been reluctant over what officials said was the Jewish state's policies towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab countries to have made peace with Israel.