Jousting Jordan Jams Jewish Jet Just as Junior’s Jerusalem Jaunt Jolted

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday was forced to cancel his planned visit to the United Arab Emirates less than 24 hours after first announcing the event. Initial reports claimed the flight was scrubbed after Netanyahu’s wife Sara was hospitalized overnight for appendicitis, yet subsequent revelations showed the prime minister’s flight, slated to pass over Jordan, had not received the necessary approval from the authorities in Amman and was effectively grounded. On Wednesday, a visit by Jordanian Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount and Al-Aqsa Mosque compound was canceled due to disagreements over security arrangements between the two neighboring states. The spat is believed to have caused the delay in Jordan’s approval of Netanyahu’s flight on Thursday. The prime minister was hoping to meet his Emirati counterpart and perhaps other Gulf dignitaries, part of his by now routine pre-election diplomatic tour de force.