Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu canceled his trip to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday after his wife was hospitalized and in the wake of the Jordanian refusal to approve the prime minister’s flight over its airspace. Sara Netanyahu was hospitalized at Hadassah Medical Center on Thursday morning after feeling unwell and she was found to be suffering from appendicitis. She is expected to be hospitalized for several days. Media reports early Thursday morning said that Netanyahu may cancel his trip to the UAE due to his wife’s illness. However, later on Thursday, media reports said that Netanyahu canceled his trip due to Jordan’s refusal to approve his flight over its airspace. The Jordanian refusal follows the cancellation of the visit of Jordanian Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah to the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem on Wednesday. Hussein abruptly canceled his visit following his failure to adhere to the pre-arranged security agreement with Israel and Israel’s insistence that the agreement be honored. Israel had limited the number of security guards who would accompany the crown prince since Israel, as the host nation, would be responsible for securing the visit. However, Hussein embarked on his trip with a larger number of heavily armed security guards than the agreement called for. He canceled his visit on his way to the Allenby border crossing when he was informed that the extra guards will be denied entry into Israel. His last-minute cancellation came despite the fact that Israel had already prepared a large security force to secure his visit. The Prime Minister’s Office published a statement on Thursday afternoon, saying that Netanyahu canceled the trip due to Jordan’s initial refusal to approve his flight. “The prime minister was expected to visit the United Arab Emirates today, but due to difficulties in coordinating his flight in Jordan’s airspace, the visit was delayed. These difficulties are apparently a result of the cancellation of the Jordanian crown prince’s visit to the Temple Mount due to a dispute over security arrangements.” Shortly later on Thursday, Jordan agreed to approve Netanyahu’s flight but by then, the prime minister and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayd had agreed to arrange another visit. This is the fourth time that Netanyahu was forced to cancel his trip to the Emirates. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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