Israel has good reason to fear that Jordanian King Abdullah and US President Joe Biden are cooking up an attempt to impose new pro-Arab arrangements on the Temple Mount, with Biden coming to Israel in late June to ride herd on this issue.
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According to numerous media reports, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan wants Israel to relinquish any last vestiges of control over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Jordan seeks to have the Wakf (not the Israel Police) take charge of visits to the Temple Mount by non-Muslims – which essentially will mean blocking almost all Jewish visits to the Temple Mount. Jordan also objects to the term "freedom of worship" when referring to the site, because they view it as implying that Jews may pray there.
Last week, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi brazenly declared that "Israel has no sovereignty over the holy sites in Jerusalem! It is a Muslim place of worship, and only the Jordanian Waqf has full authority over the management of the compound," he avowed. And with additional chutzpa, he added "This is occupied Palestinian land."
Amman now claims "custodianship" of all Muslim and Christian holy places in Jerusalem, a claim that it invented out of thin air! Israel never has recognized Jordanian "custodianship" over any holy sites in Jerusalem.
Article 9, Section 2 of the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty says that: "In this regard [i.e., regarding freedom of access to places of religious and historical significance], in accordance with the Washington Declaration, Israel respects the present special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Muslim Holy shrines in Jerusalem. When negotiations on the permanent status will take place, Israel will give high priority to the Jordanian historic role in these shrines."
So there you have it. Recognition was afforded to Jordan's "special role in Muslim Holy shrines in Jerusalem" – not "custodianship" over Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, and not control of the Temple Mount Plaza, neither directly nor through the Wakf. (The latter organization purposefully was not mentioned in the Israel-Jordan peace treaty.)
Even Jordan's purported "special role in Muslim Holy shrines in Jerusalem" was predicated on Section 3 of Article 9, which says, "The Parties will act together to promote interfaith relations among the three monotheistic religions, with the aim of working towards religious understanding, moral commitment, freedom of religious worship, and tolerance and peace."
I dare say that with the way the Jordanian-controlled Wakf has behaved, Jordan is in deep default (complete violation) of this latter commitment.
Unfortunately, Western capitals have fallen easy prey to the chutzpadik Jordanian campaign to overstate its "rightful custodianship" (sic.) in Jerusalem, which amounts to an assault on Israel's rights in Jerusalem.
For example, when then-Canadian foreign minister Marc Garneau visited Jordan last July, he "restated Canada's recognition of Jordan's custodianship over the Muslim and Christian Holy Sites in Jerusalem, and conveyed Canada's appreciation of Jordan's constructive efforts and recognition of the key role it plays towards a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for the Palestinian and Israeli peoples." (Garneau's office later partially corrected his statement by removing reference to Christian holy sites, but maintaining the term "custodianship.")
Even Washington occasionally has slipped into its statements stuff about Jordanian "custodianship" in Jerusalem, even though it knows full well that there is no such thing in any Israel-Jordan or US-Jordan agreements.
Washington should also know that Jordan doesn't deserve "custodianship," certainly if that impinges in any way on Israeli claims of sovereignty in united Jerusalem (which includes the Old City and the Temple Mount), and certainly if that suggests Israeli relinquishment of security control on the Temple Mount.
Beware King Abdullah's scheming in and around Jerusalem. The Hashemite kingdom may be an important partner for Israel in maintaining stability along Israel's longest (eastern) border, and an ally in the fight against Iranian hegemonic ambitions. (And note: Therefore, Israel today provides almost all of Jordan's water and energy needs.)
But Abdullah is proving to be a foe in the struggle over Jerusalem, willing to employ historical falsifications, radical rhetoric, and shameless diplomatic guile to undermine Israeli rights at the holiest place on earth to the Jewish People.
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