President Shimon Peres made an unannounced visit to King Abdullah, two weeks after the monarch visited Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.

After the conversation at the king’s palace, the President’s office and the king’s palace reported on the visit.

Neither of the leaders made surprising statements, but the timing of the visits to Ramallah and Jordan are not considered coincidental in light of Abbas’ failure to win United Nations membership, the proposed Hamas-Fatah unity deal and elections in Egypt. The monarch’s visit to Ramallah earlier this month was his first in 11 years.

President Peres official holds a ceremonious position but has been active, usually behind the scenes, in promoting his decades-long campaign of peace talks.

King Abdullah told him that Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, which he terms “Palestinian land,” are a “serious obstacle” to peace.

“Israel must stop unilateral measures, particularly settlement building,” the king told Peres, although there are no previous agreements with the Palestinian Authority that prohibit construction for Jews in Jewish towns in the areas claimed by the PA.

They discussed the “means to revive Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations and remove obstacles facing them in line with a two-state solution,” the palace added.

The office of President Peres stated, “They discussed bi-lateral issues between Israel and Jordan and exchanged their ideas concerning the latest changes in our area and talked about ways that will make it possible to overcome the obstacles to the peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

“The conversation took place in a warm atmosphere, and they agreed to continue conversations in the near future.”

The statement added that President Peres coordinated his visit with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, with whom he conferred before flying to Jordan Monday morning.