Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has secretly met Jordan’s King Abdullah in Amman to discuss the risk of Syria’s chemical weapons falling into the hands of Islamist militants, Israeli media reports said on Wednesday.

Two TV stations and Israeli news sites quoted unnamed Israeli officials confirming a report in the London-based Arabic language daily, Al-Quds Al-Arabi, that such a summit had been held. Netanyahu’s spokesmen have declined to comment on the reports.

As Syria’s southern neighbour, Israel has been concerned about the risk of President Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons falling into the hands of Islamist militants or Lebanese Hezbollah fighters as an uprising against him convulses a country thought to possess a formidable chemical arsenal.

Israel has warned it could intervene if it felt there was a real risk of such a scenario unfolding.

Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in 1994 and meetings between their leaders are not unusual and are often announced by both sides.

Israel’s Channel 2 said the latest talks included a “very long discussion” about “cooperation with Jordan with regard to the fate of Syria’s chemical weapons”. It did not elaborate.

Israeli Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon on Tuesday dismissed reports that Syrian government forces had fired chemical agents at rebels fighting to topple Assad’s government.

“As things stand now, we do not have any confirmation or proof that (chemical weapons) have already been used, but we are definitely following events with concern,” Yaalon said on Israel’s Army Radio.

Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief

You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.

And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.

That’s where you come in. Gifts of any size keep the Forward free and accessible to everyone and ensure we have the resources we need to power the Forward at this critical time for American Jews.

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Will you support our work today?

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$120 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT