Jordan Agreement Says Israel Will Uphold Temple Mount Exclusivity
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.
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