King Abdullah II of Jordan. Photo: Chatham House.

JNS.org – Amid an uptick in Palestinian terrorism in Israel’s capital, the Jordanian government is recalling its ambassador to the Jewish state over what it called an “unprecedented Israeli escalation in Jerusalem.”

On Wednesday, a Palestinian terrorist slammed his vehicle into pedestrians near the Shimon HaTzadik light rail station in Jerusalem, killing one person and injuring a dozen others. The incident follows a similar attack two weeks ago in which an infant and an Ecuadorian woman were killed at the Ammunition Hill light rail station.

Also on Wednesday, Israeli police were forced to close the Temple Mount to worshippers due to Palestinians hurling stones and firecrackers.

Yet Jordan is blaming Israel for the recent unrest, instructing its delegation at the United Nations to “lodge an official complaint to the Security Council,” Jordanian government spokesman Mohammad Al-Momani told Reuters.

Jordan will “continue to confront, through all available means, Israeli unilateral policies and measures in Jerusalem and preserve its Muslim and Christian holy sites, until peace is restored to the land of peace,” Jordan’s King Abdullah said in a recent speech, according to the Jordanian news agency Petra.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Paul Hirschson told JNS.org, “We regret the Jordanian decision [to recall its ambassador], which doesn’t contribute to calming the situation. We would expect Jordan to condemn the violence, deliberately instigated from [the Palestinian city of] Ramallah.”