Jerusalem’s most Important Muslim Religious Site Facing ‘Imminent’ Threat of Israeli Takeover
Jordan is convening an emergency meeting of foreign ministers from the Arab and Islamic world over what it says is an “imminent” threat of an Israeli takeover of the most important Muslim site in Jerusalem, with the potential to “trigger a religious conflict”.
The meeting on Wednesday – and the Jordanian warning – follow an escalating pattern of government-backed incursions by Jewish religious extremists on the compound around al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock, in violation of a status quo treaty overseen by Jordan’s Hashemite monarchy, by which only Muslims can pray at the site.
On 23 July, more than 2,000 Israelis from the religious right – mostly settlers led by the national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir – stormed the area, known to Jews as the Temple Mount. They prayed and performed rituals all around the compound in what Jordanian officials said was the worst violation in modern history.
The Temple Mount is also the holiest site in Judaism, the site of two temples which were built and then destroyed by invaders in ancient times. Under the status quo agreement, the Western Wall – which was a retaining wall that survived the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 CE – is reserved for Jewish prayer.
Amman has also been alarmed at a recent recruitment drive for religious Jews for a special Temple Mount police unit, and is braced for more direct challenges to traditional Jordanian custodianship by extremist Israeli leaders in the major Jewish holidays in September. This year, those holidays will come amid an intense election campaign, in which the far-right coalition of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will be fighting for survival. (Read more from “Jerusalem’s most Important Muslim Religious Site Facing ‘Imminent’ Threat of Israeli Takeover” HERE)
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