Jordanian health minister refuses normalization with Israel

Jordanian Health Minister Yitzhak Maraqa has asserted his refusal to meet with any Israeli official, regardless of his post. "I will not accept normalization under any condition, even if I will be obliged to leave the ministry."

In a statement to the Saudi daily Okaz issued on Thursday, the Jordanian health minister asserted his position refusing all forms of normalization with Israel. Replying to a question on whether his post as a minister would make it necessary for him, in terms of the protocol, to meet with Israelis, including the Israeli health minister, Maraq said, "I will refuse to meet with him and ask the ministry secretary to meet with him."

Minister Maraqa stated that he told Jordanian Prime Minister Abdul Raouf al-Rawabdeh when the latter asked him to assume his post that he will refuse to meet with any Israeli official and that the premier's answer was, "You are the master of your ministry, and you have the right to take the decision which complies with your convictions."

The Jordanian health minister was the chairman of the physicians union in 1990 in Jordan when representatives of some 12 Jordanian unions, including his, set up a anti-normalization committee against Israel.