Date: 01/05/2022 Time: 13:48
By Pinhas Inbari
After Ramadan, a delegation from Israel is scheduled to travel to Amman to discuss restoring stability to the Temple Mount, with media reports talking about a return to the status quo from before 2000. On the face of it, a Jordanian Israeli effort to calm the restive site seems positive, but there are concerns that the positions of the parties are so remote that the negotiations will not lead to calm, but exacerbation. why? Because Israel will come from the starting point of the 1994 peace treaty with Jordan, and the understandings with the Muslim Waqf from 1967, while Jordan’s position relies on the Hashemite sponsorship of 1924, which Sheriff Ali gave to Jerusalem, at the request of its dignitaries, even before the Kingdom of Jordan had been founded.
Based on this maxim, the Hashemites are also responsible for the Christian holy sites. In addition, Jordan relies on its agreement with the PLO from 2014, under which Jordan recognizes East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, while The PLO recognizes the Hashemites as the guardians of the holy places in the Haram. According to the text published by the Palestinian Wafa News Agency, The PLO recognizes Jordan’s role on the Temple Mount, but not also on Christian holy sites. ”
According to the king’s current positions, as published, Israel will cease to play a role in maintaining a security force on the Mount and a strong guard of the Waqf will be established in its place. Jordan has already begun to establish such a force, and the additional manpower consists mainly of the Fatah people. That is, while Israel wants to establish its relations with Jordan based on the peace agreement, Jordan ignores it and prefers the agreement it signed with the PLO. The king’s main effort was recently to mobilize Arab support for his positions, and it seemed that the “Ministerial Committee of the Arab League” had backed him in renewing the status quo formula from before 2000, but it turns out that the king has problems in mobilizing inter-Arab support. First, Arab countries are unwilling to give Jordan the leading role in anything, certainly not in Jerusalem. The UAE’s position is that Jordan’s patronage is only on the Aqsa Mosque itself, not on the Haram and Jordanian officials blame the Gulf because in this position they are setting the stage for a new status quo that will sponsor the Haram to Saudi Arabia. The side that most supports Jordan, The PLO, is not very supportive either. King Abdullah attended coordination talks with Mahmoud Abbas in the Mukataa, and according to sources in Ramallah, the two were divided on the question of who would be the representative address on the Temple Mount. While the king told the Waqf that he was part of the Jordanian Ministry of Endowments, Mahmoud Abbas said that this is the role reserved for the Mufti, which is part of the PA establishment. They also disagreed with the practice of what to do now. While the king sought to calm the area, Mahmoud Abbas argued that the arrangement on the Temple Mount should come through a popular struggle. The king’s demand to patronize the holy places also means patronage of the Christian Quarter, that is, control of large areas of the Old City. It is no coincidence that Wafa’s version ignores Jordan’s demand for the patronage of Christian holy sites. The Palestinians understand what this means for their status in the Old City.
According to the latest publications, Jordan demands that Israel be completely removed from responsibility for security in the mosque’s plaza, which is a dangerous demand because this means that the new force of the Waqf will be armed. We will put aside for a moment the impossibility of Israel agreeing to such a thing. Jordan’s real problem will be facing Muslims, especially the Islamic Liberation Party, which is the real strong force that controls the Mount. It is an extremist Caliphate party, but it consistently does not confront Israel, but against the Jordanian, Palestinian and Egyptian elements that ascend the Mount. In recent Ramadan events, we did not see them among the rioters, because they did not want to clash with Israel. The rioters were mostly Raed Salah people, and this is an internal Israeli problem. How much can Israel allow a movement that has already been outlawed to run wild? Will Jordan be able to run against the Liberation Party if Israeli forces descend from the Mount? Can Jordan clash with Raed Salah’s people? according to the status quo, Israel is responsible for the security of the mosques, and it should be noted that the Waqf itself restrains condemning Israel for entering the mosques.
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