Pistols at Dawn: Jordanian, Israeli MPs in Duel that Never Happened

Published August 2nd, 2017 - 12:38 GMT
Israeli MK Oren Hazan posted the following to Twitter on Wednesday morning (Twitter)
Israeli MK Oren Hazan posted the following to Twitter on Wednesday morning (Twitter)

Social media has been set alight after a Jordanian lawmaker reportedly challenged a member of Israel’s Knesset to a duel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apparently stepped in to prevent controversial MK Oren Hazan heading to the Allenby Bridge (known in Arabic as the King Hussein bridge) border crossing on Wednesday morning.

Jordanian MP Yehiya al-Saoud had demanded Hazan meet him between the two countries for a brawl, Jordanian website JO24.net reported.

According to reports, al-Saoud said "The shoe of any Palestinian child is more honorable than this villain and his entity and the shoe of any Arab and Muslim is better than him and his rogue entity, which has no origin and religion."

Hazan responded from his Twitter account, saying "I accept the invitation of the Jordanian member of parliament to the meeting on the bridge. Tomorrow at 10:00 A.M. I'll be at Allenby Bridge for a face-to-face talk. I've got an offer he can't refuse."

Israeli news outlet Haaretz reported that al-Saoud’s challenge was in response to provocative tweets from Hazan directed towards Jordan after the killing of two Jordanians at Israel’s Amman embassy last week.

On July 23, an Israeli security guard shot dead two Jordanians within the embassy complex, after one of them allegedly attacked him with a screwdriver.

The incident raised tensions between the two nations, as Jordan initially insisted on carrying out an investigation into the killings before the guard could return home. He was later allowed to leave following negotiations between the neighboring nations.

The proposed fistfight sparked considerable interest online with #Yehiya_al-Saoud and #We_Stand_With_Yehiya_al-Saoud trending on Twitter in Jordan.

And what next #Yehiya_al-Saoud? Go on, go on, what happened?

(The picture shows the man saying “then I grabbed the Israeli and strangled him” and the child replying “go on, I believe you”)

#Yehiya_al-Saoud on the bridge ‘be like’:

Posters were circulated online advertising the fight for 10am on August 2, complete with ticket prices for spectators.

Please don’t share pictures of Yehiya al-Saoud’s training, we don’t want to share our secrets.

Some Israelis also discussed the upcoming clash online.

 

On Tuesday, in a post on his Facebook page, al-Saoud called on supporters to meet in the morning to "head to the King Hussein bridge".

However, despite so much enthusiasm for the duel, Netanyahu told Hazan to stand down on Wednesday morning, Haaretz reported.

"Chief of Staff Yoav Horowitz called on MK Oren Hazan not too long ago, ordering him not to go to the Allenby Crossing."

Al-Saoud said of the incident in interviews with reporters shared on his Facebook page that "some people have taken this as a joke topic, a mocking topic, no [...] When this man insults the Jordanian people I, as a Jordanian citizen, not as an MP, [have to respond]."

As much as half of Jordan’s population is of Palestinian origin. While official relations between the two nations are largely good, anti-Israeli sentiment runs high in the country.

Both Hazan and al-Saoud have been no stranger to controversy in the past. Hazan famously took a selfie with Donald Trump after he landed in Israel for an official visit in May. He was also suspended from the Knesset in December 2015 for mocking a disabled MK.

Tags:JO24.netTwitterHaaretzKnessetJordanian MPIsrael’s Amman embassyYehiya al-SaoudYoav HorowitzOren HazanBenjamin NetanyahuOren Smadja
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