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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - King Abdullah II of Jordan said on Sunday that "if we did not solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict... our hands would be restricted while we are fighting terrorism."

The Jordanian royal Court issued a statement to journalists briefing them about an interview conducted with the King by CNN in Amman.

According to Anadolu, which received a copy of the statement, CNN asked the King whether Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to seek a two-state solution.

"In the current stage, unfortunately, there is no initiative from both sides [Palestinians and Israelis]. This is at least until the end of the Israeli elections," the King said. "I hope that there would be a serious obligation towards the two-state solution as soon as the elections are completed."

The King added: "The extremists use the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as a pretext to persuade their new recruits. Therefore, recruitment rates increased during the war on the Gaza Strip last summer."

Regarding the Jordanian response to the execution of Jordanian pilot Mo'ath al-Kasasbeh by Islamic State militants last month, he said: "The Jordanian response will be thrilling, and this needs the recruitment of all military facilities. Such thing could not be ready in little time."

He continued: "The air strikes were thrilling, and the operations are still continuous in Syria. We cooperate with our brothers in Iraq. There is a long-term plan to deal with this issue."

When asked if beating ISIS requires US ground force, the King said: "This is our war and it represents a challenge for the Arabs and Muslims. Therefore, keeping Western ground forces away from the battlefield is a significant part of future operations."

According to the CNN website, the King also said that: "I have said this to leaders, both in the Islamic and Arab world and to the world in general; this is a third World War by other means. This brings Muslims, Christians, and other religions together in this generational fight that all of us have to be in this together."

He pointed out that there are three components to the fight against ISIS: a military response, a security response and an ideological response. Changing minds, he said, will be the long-term goal of the battle.

*Middleeast Monitor