Jordan condemns visit by Ben Gvir and other coalition members to Temple Mount

Jordan issues a statement strongly condemning the visit to Temple Mount by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, fellow Otzma Yehudit minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf and Likud MK Amit Halevi.

In a strident statement, a spokesman for Amman’s Foreign Ministry calls the three coalition members “extremists,” claiming that their “provocation” violated the status quo on the flashpoint site.

The visit “reflects the insistence of the Israeli government and its extremist members to disregard international law and Israel’s obligations as the occupying power,” the statement reads.

Amman urges the international community to “firmly” condemn the visit, alleging that the site is an exclusive place of worship for Muslims and is under the jurisdiction of the Jordanian Waqf, asserting that Israel has no sovereignty over the “occupied city of Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites.”

The Temple Mount was once the location of the two Jewish Temples and is considered Judaism’s holiest place. The flashpoint site houses the Al Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site to Muslims. The area is governed by a vague, unwritten status quo. While Israel regards it as stating that Jews can visit the site but not pray there, Palestinian and Arab leaders view any uptick in visits as a violation of the status quo.