The release of Israel’s Amman embassy staff in Jordan and their return to Israel on Monday was made possible by “close cooperation” between Israeli and Jordanian authorities, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

A diplomatic crisis ensued between the countries on Sunday after a Jordanian man stabbed an Israeli security guard who worked at the embassy in Amman, The Times of Israel reported. The guard shot and killed the assailant in self-defense. A second Jordanian man, the landlord of the guard’s apartment, was wounded in the incident and later died.

The Jordanian government demanded an interrogation of the guard by police and surrounded the embassy, not allowing the staff to leave. A deal was ultimately worked out between the two governments, with Jordanian police hearing the guard’s description of the incident before embassy staff, Haaretz reported.

Earlier in the day, a former Israeli national security official said that it’s in the “basic interest” of both Israel and Jordan to resolve the diplomatic crisis. Dr. Eran Lerman, former deputy for foreign policy and international affairs in Israel’s National Security Council and currently a senior research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, said that for Israel “there’s no alternative to the relationship with Jordan.” He explained that Jordan is an important partner for Israel, both in regards to countering the current unrest at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem—which is being fanned by Palestinian incitement—as well as threats emanating from Syria, which borders both nations.

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