JERUSALEM: Israel yesterday reassured Jordan that it would not allow Jewish prayer at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al Aqsa mosque compound, after reports of a possible change raised concerns in the Arab world.
“There is no intention of changing the status quo on the Temple Mount,” a source in the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, using the Israeli term for the compound which is located in the Old City.
Non-Muslim visits to the compound are permitted and regulated by police, but Jews are not allowed to pray there for fear it could trigger major disturbances, nor do they enter the mosques there.
Visits by religious nationalist Israelis tend to trigger clashes between stone-throwing youths and Israeli police, as well as complaints from Jordan which overseas Muslim heritage sites in Jerusalem.
Palestinians fear the visits are an attempt to usurp the site, and in recent months the clashes have multiplied, with police vowing to crack down on violence there.
The Palestinians have also been angered by unrest at the plaza, with President Mahmoud Abbas pledging to prevent “settlers” — a Palestinian euphemism for religious Jews — from entering the compound “by all means”. AFP
