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.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.