Jordan's King Abdullah: "Reform half-done can be undone"

King of Jordan Abdulla II ibn Al Hussein on Tuesday called for two-state negotiations between Israel and Palestine and argued that tensions between the two countries threaten security in the region.

King Abdullah, speaking at an IBM conference in New York, said "the central threat in the region remains the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."

He added that a two-state agreement between the two countries was needed. Israel and Palestine tensions have mounted in recent days over the settlements as well as refugees.

The monarch said that the people of the region "reject the status quo" and don't want to see "Palestinians sent to the back of the bus waiting for reform."

The remarks came as King Abdullah noted Jordan's investment in education and infrastructure. Hussein said his country faces many economic challenges, but saw the Arab Spring coming. "Even before the Arab Spring, we in Jordan began structural reform," he said.

Overall, the region has to make key choices to tackle unemployment and build industries such as information technology to transition countries to new markets, he said. In Jordan, three out of every four citizens are under 34 years old. Those people "have vast potential to achieve and lead" as long as governments invest and make the right choices.

The Arab Spring showed that the region wanted "more freedom and dignity and they want it now," he said. "Reform half-done can be undone."

Nearly 2 million Palestinian refugees live in Jordan, slightly more than in the Gaza and the West Bank. Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh has said that statehood for Palestinians would be best achieve through direct negotiations, and any agreement should take into account the rights of Palestinian refugees, the fate of Jerusalem and the borders of a future Palestinian state.