Jordan’s parliament is considering expelling its Israeli envoy and rethinking its peace agreement with the Jewish state in protest of Israeli “violations” against the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
The Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City is the most controversial piece real estate in the world. In a long-standing agreement, Jordan is the custodian of holy sites in Jerusalem while Israel merely exercises a police presence for security purposes.
After a conflict on Tisha B’Av between Jews who wanted to pray at the site on the Jewish observance day, and Muslims who were flocking there for their holiday, fights ensued and several people were injured.
Following the incident, Jordan called an emergency session and some officials recommended recalling their country’s ambassador to Israel, closing the Israeli Embassy in Amman and cancelling the Israel-Jordan peace treaty. In addition, they want to summon the U.S. ambassador to Jordan to protest American support for Israel.
The parliament stressed that Jordan must maintain historical custodianship over Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem and urged the government to recall the Jordanian ambassador to Israel and halt “all forms of normalization” with the country.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said that “Jerusalem is a redline.”
“We condemn the Israeli occupation authorities’ provocative practices and ongoing violation of international law, as well as their attempts change the historical and legal situation in occupied Jerusalem and its holy sites,” he said.
Israel’s actions, he said, will “aggravate the conflict, increase tensions and lead to an explosion, thus threatening international peace and security.”
Jordan indeed summoned on Sunday the Israeli ambassador and asked him to convey to the Israeli government a message demanding an immediate cessation of Israeli “violations” and “attempts to change the historical and legal situation” at the holy site in Jerusalem.
