Visit Amman, the Israeli Prime Minister soothes the tensions aroused by the visit of a radical minister on the mosques esplanade in Jerusalem, whose Jordanian monarchy is the guardian.
by Louis Imbert (Jerusalem, correspondent)
Benyamin Netanyahu had to reassure. To assert once again that he controls this Israeli government which he formed in December with the far right and the ultra -backodox Jewish parties. Tuesday, January 24, the Prime Minister folded this exercise in Amman, with King Abdallah II of Jordan. The two men had not seen each other since 2018. Their relationship is execrable.
At the beginning of January, Amman was worried about a visit to the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, on the esplanade of the Mosques of Jerusalem (Mount of the Temple for the Jews), whose Jordanian monarchy is the Guardian. This extremely right elected official, Jewish supremacist sentenced in 2007 for incitement to hatred and support for a terrorist organization, is the first Israeli official to go to the holy place for years.
He is not mystery of his desire to overthrow the status quo which has governed prayer there since 1967, the year when the Israeli army hunted the Jordanian forces of East Jerusalem. The Israeli state had then shaved a district of the old town, in order to spare the Jewish faithful to a vast space of prayer against the wall of the lamentations, a vestige of the temple destroyed by the Roman Legion in the first century. At the same time, Israel left Muslims the exclusive privilege of praying above the wall, on the esplanade of the mosques. Jews can only go there just visitors.
a weakened monarchy
m. Ben Gvir supports Jewish activists, more numerous each year to break this status quo. They cross the holy place every morning under the protection of police officers. They lead collective prayers aloud and religious study sessions near the Golden Porte. They bow and pray silently under the stairs that lead to the Dome of the Rock. Minister, Ben Gvir has authority over these police officers. Just like on those who keep the entrances and the round way overlooking Al-Aqsa, and who enter it regularly to disperse demonstrators.
Tuesday, January 17, these police officers prohibited the Jordanian ambassador in Tel Aviv from entering the esplanade of the mosques. They asked him to coordinate his visit beforehand with the Israeli authorities. The ambassador left, Amman protested. The monarchy is all the more sensitive to such an incident, as it is weakened by an endless economic crisis, which caused demonstrations in Jordan in December. On Tuesday, King Abdallah stressed “the need to respect and not touch the historical and legal status quo on the esplanade of the mosques”. The office of Mr. Netanyahu indicated for his part that the meeting had focused on “regional questions” and cooperation.
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