Jordan, a nation that could not exist without Israel’s generosity, is ramping up its spat with the Jewish State over allowing non-Muslim worshippers to be on the Temple Mount. Some Jordanian lawmakers on Monday urged the government to expel Israel’s ambassador and review the nation’s 1994 peace treaty with Israel following last week’s riot on the Temple Mount.
Israel, which captured the Temple Mount that was home to both the Solomon and Second Temple, allowed Jews to enter it against discriminatory Muslim laws which prohibit Jews from praying. After its capture in 1967, Israel returned the Mount to the control of the Muslim clerics with the hope that it would encourage peace and that Jews would be allowed to visit it and pray. Jews were immediately banned in large numbers and still may not pray at the site. When Jews try to visit and pray, Muslims riot in protest. Christians are also forbidden to pray and Bibles are confiscated by Islamic guards with those believers that brought them being escorted out.
With this background, the legislators called an “emergency” meeting in Jordan’s House of Representatives to discuss the “recent violations, including the storming by the Israeli occupation forces and settlers, of the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque/Noble Sanctuary,” the Jordanian government propaganda news agency Al-Mamlaka TV reported.
Arab media reports that MP Yahya Al-Saud submitted 17 recommendations from the parliamentary Palestine Committee, which he chairs.
The text of the recommendations warned against “allowing Jewish settlers to carry out Talmudic prayer” at the Temple Mount and referred to Israel as a “racist” and “Zionist entity.”
This move came a day after Jordanian officials summoned Israeli ambassador to Jordan, Amir Weissbrodto, to Amman to condemn the Jewish state’s actions.
Jordan also demanded that Israel stop any attempts to change the status quo of the holy site.
Jordan gained control over the Temple Mount after the Six Day War in 1967. Non-Muslims are not allowed to pray at the holy site.
Last week, Muslim worshippers clashed with Israeli security forces on the Temple Mount on the first day of Eid al-Adha.
On Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice, Muslims celebrate what they say was Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Ishmael. They say, God stopped him and provided a lamb instead.
The riot erupted in an attempt to prevent Jews from entering the Temple Mount during the Jewish fast day of Tisha B’Av, which happened to coincide with the Muslim holiday. The Jewish feast day commemorates the destruction of the Temple by Rome in 70 AD.
Initially, the Jews were denied entry. Then, under heavy guard, about 1,700 were allowed to go up to the Temple Mount, the site of two former temples.
After the riots, Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, whose ministry oversees police security at the Temple Mount, said he wants to change the holy site’s status quo.
“I think there is an injustice in the status quo that has existed since ’67,” he told Israel’s Radio 90. “We need to work to change it so in the future Jews, with the help of God, can pray at the Temple Mount.”
More moderate Jordanian legislators are against breaking the treaty because Jordan relies heavily on Israel to survive. Israel provides Jordan with a significant portion of its daily water use as well as free and discounted electricity. Without Israeli generosity, Jordan would spiral into a failed state.