by Tovah Lazaroff
A list of Israeli-Jordanian crisis points, most of which center on the Temple Mount.
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PALESTINIANS AND the Wakf Islamic religious trust
have made it clear that Emiratis and Bahrainis are not welcome to pray
in al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
(photo credit: AMMAR AWAD/REUTERS)
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Israel and Jordan don’t have a cold peace, they have a jittery peace.
The
fragility of one of Israel’s most important regional allies – with whom
security ties are often described as a cornerstone of regional
stability – was underscored by a series of apparent tit-for-tat
diplomatic price-tag attacks over the last 24 hours.
On Wednesday, Israel prevented Hashemite Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah from visiting the Temple Mount.
Jordan
in retaliation refused on Thursday to authorize Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu flight path to the United Arab Emirates, causing the trip's
cancellation.
It's
the latest diplomatic skirmish in a 26-year relationship fraught with
crises brought on by religion, geo-politics and violence.
Netanyahu
might have glossed over the incident, pointing out that
the flight path
was later approved, but it's harder to brush away the persistent
simmering tensions.
Here is a look at 10 Israeli-Jordanian crisis points, many of which center around the Temple Mount, as the present crisis does.
1. Prince Hussein denied access to Temple Mount
When
it comes to the Hashemite Kingdom and its relationship to the Temple
Mount, there are no minor mishaps, only deliberate slights.
Israel
might have barred Hussein from entering Israel because he wanted to
bring a security retinue that was larger than agreed. But the issue at
the heart of the dispute is about control of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount,
the most holy site for Jews and third-holiest site for Islam.
But
the issue at the heart of the dispute was about control of Jerusalem's
Temple Mount, Judaism's most holy site and Islam's third holiest.
There
were those in Israel who felt the size of the security details was a
deliberate show of Jordanian power and a statement against its authority
over the site, which lies within Israel’s sovereign borders.
One Israel Radio commentator noted that by now, Jordan should accept Israeli sovereignty over the Temple Mount.
The
Hashemite Kingdom’s special custodial relationship to the Temple Mount,
known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, is one of the central pillars
on which rests a monarchy whose family claims to descend from the
Prophet Mohammed, and which takes pride in a long history as the keeper
of holy Islamic spaces.
So
an Israeli refusal of a visit by a Hashemite member of the Royal
Family, even for technical reasons, is a public affront that underscores
what the Kingdom already feels has become a tenuous custodial tie to
al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem.
The
British in 1924 during its rule over Mandatory Palestine granted the
Hashemite Kingdom a special custodial role over the al-Aqsa compound.
The
1994 Israeli-Jordanian Peace Treaty enshrined that role, but events
over the last decade have made Jordan nervous about the future status of
that relationship. Wednesday's border snafu was a stark reminder that
its custodial relationship could be in jeopardy.
2. West Bank annexation
Israeli
willingness to advance a plan to annex 30% of the West Bank over the
last two years, including the Jordan Valley, created an immediate public
backlash among the Jordanian public that could have threatened to
undermine the Hashemite Kingdom, had Netanyahu not suspended the plan in
August.
Palestinians
make up over 50% of the population in Jordan, so tensions in the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict often translate into public pressure on the
Jodanian leadership to take a hasher tone with Israel.
King
Abdullah and the country's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, who led the
global diplomatic campaign against annexation, hinted throughout that
they could renege on the country's 1994 peace treaty with Israel should
annexation move forward. The scars from that battle are still visible
3. A Saudi role on the Temple Mount?
There
was public speculation that in order to entice Saudi Arabia to
normalize ties with Israel, the Trump administration had considered
weakening Jordan’s sole role as custodian of al-Aqsa Mosque compound by
offering a role to the Saudi Arabian monarchy, the House of Saud.
It
was a move that would have been a violation of the 1994 peace treaty,
and which struck a particularly sensitive nerve because of the
competition between the Hashemites and the House of Saud as the
spiritual keepers of the Islamic faith.
Until the early 20th century, the Hashemite monarchy had controlled the two holiest Islamic mosques in Mecca and Medina.
A
century ago, it lost control of Mecca and Medina to the House of Saud,
so its only foothold on Islamic holy spaces is now its special custodial
role over the al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem.
The
possibility that Israel could back a Saudi Temple Mount plan so
detrimental to the Hashemite monarch was not lost on the royal family.
4. Israeli drive to change Temple Mount status quo
The
Temple Mount, where the biblical Temple once stood, is one of the most
volatile flash points in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
It
is governed by a very careful arrangement among Israel, Jordan and the
Islamic Wakf (Islamic trust), which administers the site that everyone
can visit but where only Muslims can worship. The ban on non-Muslim
worship has been in place since the aftermath of the Six Day War.
Former
US president Donald Trump’s peace plan to resolve the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict alluded to a change in that status quo that
would allow for those of all faiths to pray there, including Jews.
There
has been a growing political movement within the Israeli Right,
including by ministers of Netanyahu’s own Likud Party, to allow Jewish
worship at the site.
Netanyahu
has continually spoken of maintaining the status quo, but persistent
comments by his ministers as well as legislative drives in the Knesset
has given Jordan cause for concern.
Jordan's
persistent warnings about the erosion of the Temple Mount status quo
has, in turn, inflamed Palestinians and helped spark violent incidents
in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
5. Temple Mount metal detector crisis
A
brief crisis erupted in the summer of 2017 after two Israeli policemen
were shot to death by the Lion’s Gate entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City
by three Israeli-Arabs, who had just visited al-Aqsa Mosque compound for
the weekly Friday prayers. After the attack they ran back in the
direction of the Temple Mount, where they were killed by Israeli police.
To
prevent further such attacks, Israel placed metal detectors at the
entrance to the Temple Mount to ensure that Muslim worshipers were not
armed. The decision sparked immediate violent protests in Jerusalem and
the West Bank, and created an immediate diplomatic backlash with Jordan.
By July 25, Israel decided to remove the detectors and calm was restored.
It
was the third such crisis in three years. When the “knife intifada”
began in 2015, Jordan warned Israel that its security measures had
violated the status quo. In 2014, it withdrew its ambassador for three
months after Israeli security forces responded to clashes at al-Aqsa by
entering the main mosque and throwing percussion grenades.
6. Dispute over Jordanian detained
In
2019, a dispute broke out between the two countries when Israel
detained but initially refused to release two Jordanians it suspected of
security transgression, Hiba Labadi and Abdul Rahman Miri. Israel
released them only after Jordan recalled its ambassador.
7. Violence at the Israeli Embassy compound in Amman
In
July 2017, a violent incident occurred in an apartment within the
Israel Embassy compound in Amman that left two Jordanians dead.
According
to Israel, a Jordanian worker violently stabbed the embassy’s deputy
director of security, while moving furniture in his home. The landlord
was also present. The security guard defended himself, fatally shooting
16-year-old Mohammad Jawawdeh, and also mortally wounding the landlord,
Bashar Kamel Hamarneh.
Jordan
claimed that the security guard had unnecessarily fired his gun when a
dispute turned violent. Israel spoke of it as a terror attack, with
Netanyahu hailing the security guard as a hero.
Jordan
allowed the security guard to be returned to Israel and then-ambassador
Einat Schlein left the county, while Israel agreed to remove the metal
detectors. A new Israeli ambassador was sent to Jordan only in April of
2018.
8. Jordan shuts down Island of Peace
In
light of Israeli-Jordanian tensions, King Abdullah in 2019 refused to
extend a land lease with Israel that had been an annex to the 1994 peace
treaty between the two countries.
Under
the terms of the deal, privately owned Jewish land near the Sea of
Galilee was given to Jordan, but Israelis were allowed to farm the site
and tourists could visit what had become known as the Island of Peace.
Jordan
similarly refused to extend a contract under which it leased farm land
to Moshav Tzofar along the southern border between the two countries,
ending that arrangement in 2020.
9. Island of Peace massacre
In
1997, during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s first term in office, a
Jordanian soldier killed seven Israeli school girls who were on a field
trip to the Island of Peace. Ahmed Daqamseh was tried and convicted in
Jordan, which released him 20 years later in 2017.
10. Failed poison plot by Mossad against Khaled Mashaal in Jordan
A
Mossad plot to poison former Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Jordan in
1997 was foiled by the country’s security forces, but only after the
poison had been injected. I
srael gave Jordan the antidote and freed
Palestinian prisoners, including Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, in exchange for
the release and return of the two Mossad agents.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Tovah Lazaroff
Source: https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/10-things-to-know-about-israels-jittery-peace-with-jordan-661723
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