After meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday and with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and King Abdullah of Jordan in Amman on Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that Israel had promised to maintain the tradition that only Muslims are allowed to pray at a holy site in Jerusalem, an issue at the center of recent violence.

“Israel will continue to enforce its long-standing policy on religious worship… at the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, including the fundamental fact that it is Muslims who pray on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, and non-Muslims who visit,” Kerry said after meetings in Amman.

He added that Israeli officials and the Muslim Waqf, custodians who manage the site which houses the al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, would meet to discuss ways of easing tensions and that both would provide 24-7 video surveillance there.

Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief

You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.

And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.

That’s where you come in. Gifts of any size keep the Forward free and accessible to everyone and ensure we have the resources we need to power the Forward at this critical time for American Jews.

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Will you support our work today?

, editor-in-chief

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$120 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT