Tourists from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain who want to visit the Temple Mount will be able to enter the site through the "Jordanian-Palestinian gates," according to an agreement reached by representatives of the UAE, Bahrain, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority.

There are nine functioning entrances to the Temple Mount, eight of which are used by Muslims and only one of which is designated for Jews.

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UAE officials sought an agreement of this kind after several clashes between the Waqf officials and UAE citizens who visited the Temple Mount. in October, a delegation of Emirati officials visited the site, entered through a gate commonly used by Israelis, and were ambushed by a small group of Palestinians.

The Palestinian anger comes after the signing of the Abraham Accords peace treaty between Israel and the UAE.

The new agreement ensures the safety of tourists from Muslim countries who visit Al-Aqsa and other holy sites, and compels the Palestinians to recognize the peace between the two countries.

An official familiar with these developments told Israel Hayom that another goal of the agreement was to convey to US President-elect Joe Biden that the Palestinians do not reject the peace.

Meanwhile, the final bureaucratic barriers have been removed to allow Israelis to travel to the UAE freely. The foreign ministries in Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi have confirmed that Israelis will be able to visit Dubai in the coming days.

Some 250 flights are expected to fly from Israel to Dubai next month. There will only be a flight to Dubai for now, not to Abu Dhabi. Those who travel from Israel to the Emirates will be required to pass coronavirus tests after landing.

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Senior Saudi diplomats familiar with the details confirmed to Israel Hayom that "these talks are sensitive and clandestine and have been conducted by small teams of diplomats and security officials from Israel, the US, and Saudi Arabia as part of the Trump administrations' Peace to Prosperity Middle East initiative."

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According to one senior Saudi diplomat, up until a few months ago the Jordanians – who hold special and exclusive status in managing the Waqf – adamantly objected to any change in the Waqf Council. Amman however has since changed its position amid intense Turkish interference in east Jerusalem and particularly the Temple Mount.

Due to violent incidents at the Gate of Mercy at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the Temple Mount and unrest following the decision by the Israeli Police to place metal detectors at the entrance to the Muslim holy site, the Jordanians decided, in contravention of the Oslo Accords, to include Palestinian representatives in the Waqf Council.

The Palestinian officials who joined the Waqf then opened the door for the Turkish government to establish a presence at the holy site by funding projects to the tune of tens of millions of dollars transferred to Islamist-Turkish non-profit organizations. The funds were approved by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Consequently, the Jordanians have told Israel and the US that the Hashemite Kingdom was now prepared to soften its position on the matter of incorporating Saudi representatives to the Waqf on the following conditions: that Jordan retains its exclusive status on the Mount, that Saudi Arabia transfers millions of dollars in donations to Islamic NGOs operating in east Jerusalem, and that Saudi Arabia also applies diplomatic pressure to expel the Turkish Islamist organizations operating under Palestinian auspices.

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A senior Arab diplomat told Israel Hayom: "If the Jordanians allow the Turks to operate unhindered at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, within a matter of years their special status in charge of the Waqf and Muslim holy sites would be relegated to being strictly 'on paper.' They need the Saudi's money and influence to block Erdogan. Israel and the US also have an interest here because they want Saudi support for the US peace plan and Israeli annexation initiative, and because Saudi Arabia can ensure support from Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates."

The Arab diplomat added that "it's still too early to say whether this initiative will indeed come to fruition. The intention is for the Saudi representatives to function strictly as observers, so as not to detract from the Jordanians' exclusive status."

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The unusually high voter turnout in east Jerusalem neighborhoods, together with a meeting three and a half weeks prior to the March 2 election between Joint List members, Islamic Waqf representatives and PA officials – indicates possible coordination.

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Influenced by the PA and Hamas, Arab Israelis from east Jerusalem traditionally boycott national elections, but this time more than 6,000 residents of those neighborhoods voted for the 23^rd Knesset.  The Joint Arab List received 5,304 of those votes, compared to 3,582 it received for the 22^nd Knesset and just 1,950 votes for the 21^st Knesset (when the parties comprising the Joint Arab List ran separately).

Formally, the purpose of the meeting was to express opposition to the Trump administration's deal of the century, and mainly to express support for Sheikh Akrama Sabri, the former mufti of Jerusalem who was banned from the Temple Mount by the defense establishment for a period of four months due to riots at the holy site. For years now, Sabri has been affiliated with the outlawed northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, and he has a close relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In the past, Sabri wished for the destruction of the United States and Great Britain, met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and tacitly supported (during the Second Intifada in the early 2000s) suicide attacks against Israelis.

The meeting in question was attended by almost every member of the Joint Arab List, including MK Ahmad Tibi, who in the past served as an advisor to Yasser Arafat and to Hatem Abdel Qader, the former PA minister of Jerusalem affairs. Also in attendance were Mohammed Quds, head of the Palestinian Prisoners Club in Jerusalem; northern branch deputy chairman Sheikh Kamal Khatib; Muhammad Baraka, head of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee; and Sabri.

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Titled The Festival of Lights: A Zionist Colonialist Ritual, Not a Jewish Religious Festival, the article claims that Israel and right-wing organizations in it use Hanukkah to further their plans of Judaizing Jerusalem and to carry out mass raids on the Al-Aqsa mosque "in the guise of Talmudic religious rituals."

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It should be noted that the article was published amid tension between Israel and Jordan, including over the Jordanian Waqf's management of Al-Aqsa compound and Jordan's opposition to Jewish worshippers visiting the compound. A month ago, Jordan's king even said that "relations with Israel are at an all-time low."

The following are excerpts from Kan'an's article.

"In realizing its Zionist plans in Palestine and Jerusalem, Israel's colonialist occupation policy relies on phony religious justifications and excuses designed to mislead global opinion and elicit its support. The religious rituals create an atmosphere that allows the Israeli government and the right-wing organizations that support it to carry out their systematic Judaizing programs in Jerusalem that target the entire area of the blessed Al-Aqsa mosque (144 dunams) [35.5 acres].

"The Jews are currently celebrating the Festival of Lights, or Hanukkah … commemorating the building and dedication of the false Second Temple in Jerusalem in 164 BC. The misleading Jewish tradition claims that some Jews needed olive oil to light the seven-branched candelabra, but they only had enough oil for one day. But by a miracle, they claim, this small amount lasted for the eight days required to produce more oil. The main ritual of this holiday is the lighting of the eight-branched candelabra (called hanukkiah) after sundown. On the first night of the holiday a single candle is lit while chanting certain prayers, and this is repeated each night until the end of the holiday, on which all eight candles are lit. In addition, large electric candelabras are erected in squares and public buildings.

"This Jewish festival is believed to pose the greatest danger to the Muslim and Christian holy places, for it is the only festival that is connected, according to their lies and traditions, to their false temple, and therefore it constitutes a direct threat to Al-Aqsa. Researchers know that Hanukkah is not one of the Jewish holidays mentioned in the Torah, yet it is one of the most popular [Jewish] holidays. On this holiday, organizations such as Women for the Temple, Students for Temple Mount, Leeba, and the Temple Organization Headquarters call on the Zionist settlers to storm Al-Aqsa en masse, repeatedly and intensively, in the guise of carrying out Talmudic rituals there to mark the Festival of Lights. They call to place a hanukkiah in the very heart of the mosque, in addition to the one installed near the al-Buraq Wall [i.e., the Western Wall]."

Read full article at MEMRI.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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The move comes one day after officials in Amman summoned Israel's Ambassador to Jordan Amir Weissbrod to discuss recent "Israeli violations on the Temple Mount," according to reports in Arab media.

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According to Channel 12 News, while the Foreign Ministry confirmed Weissbrod had been summoned, it would not divulge the nature of the meeting.

As of 1994, under a peace treaty brokered by then-US president Bill Clinton between Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Jordanian King Hussein, Israel recognizes Jordanian custodianship of the Temple Mount and allows the Islamic Waqf to ban non-Muslim worshippers during Muslim holidays, whereas Israel maintains security control of the sensitive holy site.

Muslim worshippers marking the Eid al-Adha holiday rioted in an effort to prevent Jews from entering the Temple Mount during the Jewish fast day of Tisha B'Av.

Jerusalem District Police Commander Doron Yadid accused the Waqf religious authority of changing the status quo by purposefully altering Muslim prayer times so as to create a scheduling conflict with Jews who were seeking to visit the Temple Mount.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu originally ordered the closure of the holy site to Jewish worshipers as tens of thousands of Muslims made their way there as the two faiths celebrated overlapping holidays. But following immense criticism by religious groups and right-wing figures, Israeli authorities opened up access to Jewish worshipers, allowing entrance to small groups.

This article was originally published by i24NEWS.

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