Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi met secretly Thursday with his Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi, on the Jordanian side of the border crossing between the countries, Axios reported.

The meeting was confirmed by the Jordanian foreign ministry, which issued a statement that asserted Safadi told Ashkenazi that Israel must stop all measures undermining the peace process and two-state solution, Axios reported.

Safadi also said Israel must respect the status quo at the Temple Mount, the news outlet reported, referring to the policy that gives day-to-day control of the area to the Jordanian government while Israel maintains security control. 

Though  Israel and Jordan have had a peace treaty in place for more than 25 years, relations between their political leaders have cooled in the last several years. Meanwhile, security and military cooperation between Israel and Jordan have strengthened, Axios reported.

Tensions rose as the Israeli-Palestinian peace process stalled and, in particular, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to annex parts of the West Bank, Axios reported. 

Ashkenazi was the most forceful opponent of Netanyahu’s annexation plans and has raised those concerns with U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Axios reported.

According to Axios, since the normalization agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Ashkenazi said publicly several times the Israeli government has moved from an annexation policy to a policy of normalization and of renewing the peace process.

Speaking Wednesday at a conference organized by the Italian think tank ISPI, Safadi declared, ''the core of the conflict in the region is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.''

''Normalization should not be a substitute for solving this conflict but a motivation for Israel to move forward," Safadi said.

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