The Jordanian House of Representatives voted on Wednesday by majority in favor of a proposal to expel the Israeli ambassador from Amman in response to the use by the far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of a map of Israel that includes the Kingdom and the Palestinian territories, and his denial of the existence of the Palestinian people.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Al-Safadi, said during a session broadcast by the official Jordanian television, "There is a proposal to expel the Israeli ambassador from Amman (Eitan Surkis)," and the deputies raised their hands in approval, to which Al-Safadi said, "A clear majority, thank you."

The number of members who voted in favor out of the 130 council members was not clear.

Al-Safadi urged his government to "take effective and impactful measures regarding the use by the Finance Minister of the occupation government of a map that includes the borders of the Kingdom and the occupied Palestinian territories," pointing out that "this is something that cannot be overlooked and constitutes a violation of the peace treaty and international norms."

Smotrich's statements, in which he denied the existence of Palestinians as individuals and as a people during an evening organized on Sunday by an extremist Zionist group in Paris, also faced sharp criticism even from Washington.

Videos and photos spread showing Smotrich making those statements from a podium on which a map of "Greater Israel" that includes Jordan and the Palestinian territories was hung.

Also, Al-Safadi said on Wednesday that "the statements of the finance minister of the occupation government reflect the image of his extremist government, and will only increase Jordanians' steadfastness behind their leadership, army, and security apparatuses."

He affirmed that they "will only increase the Palestinian people’s resilience in the face of the war and destruction machine, which continues to desecrate our Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem."

Al-Safadi added that "the criminal and extremist acts carried out by the occupation undermine all efforts for comprehensive peace and put the international community before the responsibility of siding either with the peoples' right to self-determination or siding with an extremist government."

This comes after the House of Representatives voted by majority in favor of a proposal to expel the Israeli ambassador from Amman, two days after he was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in protest against Smotrich’s behavior.

The House of Representatives' vote is non-binding, as according to the Jordanian constitution any decision must be approved by the Jordanian government and then by the king.

All council members signed a memorandum in 2021 demanding the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador from Amman and the withdrawal of the Jordanian ambassador from Tel Aviv.

Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1994 that ended decades of a state of war between them.