World Jewish News
Netanyahu confirms: ‘Muslims pray on the Temple Mount, non-Muslims visit the Temple Mount’
26.10.2015, Israel “Israel will continue to enforce its longstanding policy: Muslims pray on the Temple Mount; non-Muslims visit the Temple Mount,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Saturday night.
His statement came hours after after an intense flurry of diplomatic activity which saw US Secretary of State John Kerry holding separate meetings in Amman with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah.
Those meetings followed a face-to-face conversation Kerry had with Netanyahu in Berlin on Thursday and a gathering of the Middle East Quartet in Vienna.
“Those who visit or worship on the Temple Mount must be allowed to do so in peace, free from violence, from threats, from intimidation and from provocations. We will continue to ensure access to the Temple Mount for peaceful worshipers and visitors, while maintaining public order and security,” Netanyahu said.
"Recognizing the importance of the Temple Mount to peoples of all three monotheistic faiths – Jews, Muslims and Christians: Israel re-affirms its commitment to upholding unchanged the status quo of the Temple Mount, in word and in practice,” Netanyahu said.
“Israel has no intention to divide the Temple Mount, and we completely reject any attempt to suggest otherwise,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu, who continued to dismiss charges that Israel had violated the status quo, has charged that the spate of attacks against Israelis – in which 11 people died- are fueled by Palestinian warnings, including from its leadership, that the Al-Aksa mosque is in danger.
Kerry told reporters in Amman that 24 hour video cameras would be placed at the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, known in Arabic as Haram al-Sharif, in an attempt to quell the violence making making all actions there transparent.
An Israeli official said that it was in the country’s best interest to have the security cameras “to refute claims that Israel is changing the status quo. We want to show that Israel is not acting provocatively.”
Kerry affirmed Jordan’s special status to the site, which is under the custodianship of the Islamic Wakf and King Abdullah.
Netanyahu echoed Kerry, when he said, “We respect the importance of the special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, as reflected in the 1994 peace treaty between Jordan and Israel, and the historical role of King Abdullah II.”
The Israeli Prime Minister said that coordination between Israeli authorities and the Jordanian Wakf would be increased to ensure security at the site
“We support the call for the immediate restoration of calm, and for all the appropriate steps to be taken to ensure that violence ceases, that provocative actions are avoided, and that the situation returns to normalcy in a way that promotes the prospects for peace,” Netanyahu said.
“We look forward to working cooperatively to lower tensions, stop incitement and discourage violence," he said.
EJP
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