On West Bank visit, German FM hails easing of tensions

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, making a visit to the West Bank on Saturday, applauded the easing of Israeli-Palestinian tensions in East Jerusalem since an intervention by his US counterpart.

“We welcome the meetings in Amman… which led to an improvement in the situation, especially around the [Temple Mount] compound,” he said, quoted by the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

On Friday, Israel lifted restrictions on Muslims praying at Jerusalem’s flashpoint al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount, a day after US Secretary of State John Kerry Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jordan’s King Abdullah in the Jordanian capital and announced an agreement on steps to reduce tensions.

Some 40,000 worshipers gathered and dispersed without incident, although there were demonstrations and protests outside Jerusalem, at Jerusalem-West Bank flash-points, and in several Israeli Arab towns. In previous weeks, Israel had limited access to the mount on Fridays to Muslim men under either 35 or 50, while not restricting Muslim women’s access.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, meanwhile, blamed Israel for the fraught situation, complaining to the German visitor of the “dangerous escalation by the Israeli government in Jerusalem.”

Steinmeier, who held talks in the West Bank town of Ramallah with Abbas and is to meet Israeli leaders on Sunday, said a return to the negotiating table was the only way forward.

“At present, there is no room or the necessary conditions for a resumption of negotiations, and the main thing for now is to ease tensions,” he said.

But, he added, “there is no alternative to negotiations to reach a two-state solution… a Palestinian state living in peace and security alongside Israel.”

The Temple Mount compound, holy to Jews and Muslims, has been the focus of months of unrest in East Jerusalem.

Netanyahu is reportedly set to meet Abdullah over the next two days for further discussions on the tensions.

Jordanian parliament member Mohammed al-Katatshe told the Palestinian news agency Ma’an Saturday that Netanyahu will visit the Hashemite Kingdom to cement an agreement reached Thursday for steps to reduce tensions in Jerusalem, Israel Radio reported.

Following Thursday’s meeting, Kerry said Israel and Jordan, which has custodial rights at the Temple Mount, had agreed to take steps to “de-escalate the situation” in Jerusalem and to “restore confidence.”

Kerry stressed the United States had agreed that it would not lay out publicly the steps agreed to by Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians to ease the tensions and violence.

Hours after Thursday’ summit, Israel announced that it would allow unrestricted access to the Temple Mount for Palestinian male and female worshipers of all ages for Friday prayers.

The move came after weeks of unrest in Jerusalem and the West Bank, some of which has been focused on Israeli plans to step up building activity in the city’s eastern sector and by religious tensions at the Temple Mount. Palestinian leaders have used inflammatory language to warn against Israeli plans to change the status quo and allow Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount — something Israel has denied.

Six Israelis have been killed in Palestinian terrorist attacks in recent weeks.

The announcement on the easing of restrictions was welcomed as “a positive step” by the State Department later Friday.

“This is an important development, one we certainly welcome,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.

Netanyahu reaffirmed to Kerry when the two and Abdullah met in Amman that he would uphold a commitment not to change the status quo of Temple Mount site, which is holy to both Muslims and Jews.

Abbas, who met separately with the secretary on Thursday, restated his pledge to “non-violence and made it clear that he will do everything possible to restore calm,” Psaki said.