The head of the GSS, Ronen Bar, recently secretly visited Jordan for meetings with the heads of the country's defense establishment. This is Bar's third visit to his counterparts in the Middle East since taking office five and a half weeks ago, along with visits to Egypt and the Palestinian Authority.
Relations between Israel and Jordan have been at a low ebb in recent years, amid a deteriorating interpersonal relationship between King Abdullah and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In response, Jordan did not allow an Emirati plane to take off for Israel, in order to pick up Netanyahu to visit the Emirates.
Even during these crises, close security ties between the countries were maintained at all levels and by all organizations - the IDF, the Mossad and the GSS.
Crimson has visited Jordan several times, and Bar also chose to make one of his first visits to Amman, to emphasize to the Jordanians the importance he attaches to ties with them.
Jordan has the longest border with Israel, which, unlike the other borders, is largely unfenced.
The close security coordination between the parties serves the two countries: the cooperation makes it possible to prevent the passage of terrorists and weapons from the east to the territories and Israeli Arabs, as well as the approach of pro-Iranian elements from Iraq to the border with Israel.
To the government in Jordan, it helps stabilize the kingdom and deal with its enemies, which is reflected, among other things, in Jordan's successful response to the threat of ISIS.
Recently, there has been an increase in attempts to smuggle weapons from Jordan to Israel.
The defense establishment attributes this to the high demand and rising weapons prices, as well as the growing difficulty in carrying out the smuggling from Egypt and Lebanon.
Last week, Bar visited Egypt, together with the head of the National Security Staff, Eyal Hulta.
Bar also visited Ramallah, where he met with the head of the Palestinian Authority, Abu Mazen, and with the heads of the Palestinian security services.
The GSS has close ties with the Palestinian leadership as part of the security coordination between the parties, and as with Jordan, it has in recent years helped to bridge and calm quite a few tensions between the parties.
In recent months, President Herzog, Prime Minister Bennett, Defense Minister Gantz and Foreign Minister Lapid have also secretly visited Jordan. The water that Israel will supply to Jordan.
