Lapid said hoping to meet with Jordan’s Abdullah on UN sidelines on Tuesday

Prime Minister Yair Lapid is seeking to hold a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, according to Hebrew media reports Sunday.

Multiple outlets citing unnamed senior officials said both sides were interested in holding the sit-down, as tensions rise in the West Bank ahead of the High Holidays in Israel.

Lapid held his first meeting as premier with Abdullah in July at the Royal Palace in Amman. The Prime Minister’s Office has said he will fly to New York on Monday and give a speech to the assembly on Thursday.

Lapid is already slated to meet in New York with new UK Prime Minister Liz Truss, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Lapid will also meet with American communal Jewish leaders and will participate in the annual gala of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, an organization that supports troops’ welfare.

The High Holidays are often marked by large gatherings in Jerusalem’s Old City that could provoke security incidents. Jordan funds the Waqf, a trust that administers the Temple Mount, the holiest place in Judaism and the third-holiest place in Islam as well as a frequent flashpoint for violence.

Jordan considers itself the custodian of Jerusalem’s Muslim and Christian holy sites, although Israel has never recognized this status

Jews visit the Temple Mount, August 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Non-Muslims are allowed to visit the site at certain hours, but are officially barred from praying there. To the displeasure of Muslims, quiet prayers have been increasingly allowed over the years. Jordan has in the past condemned Israel for allowing Jewish visits to the mount.

Police said Sunday they were preparing to boost their presence in the capital, particularly around holy sites, after receiving intelligence alerts of potential terror attacks in the city during the holidays.

Though Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty and established full diplomatic relations in 1994, ties have been anything but warm, with Jerusalem and Amman often clashing over matters regarding holy sites and the Palestinian issue.