Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Jordan Protests to Israel After Envoy Blocked From Holy Site
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 years ago on
January 17, 2023

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

JERUSALEM — Jordan summoned the Israeli ambassador to Amman on Tuesday to protest a move by Israeli police to block the Jordanian envoy from entering a volatile holy site in Jerusalem. The incident quickly escalated tensions between the neighbors and reflected the heightened sensitivity around the sacred compound under Israel’s new ultranationalist government.

Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said its ambassador to Israel, Ghassan Majali, was blocked from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, the third-holiest site in Islam. The site, sitting on a sprawling plateau also home to the iconic golden Dome of the Rock, is revered by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and by Jews as the Temple Mount.

The compound is administered by Jordanian religious authorities as part of an unofficial agreement after Israel won control of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel is in charge of security at the site.

Israeli Officer Says He Didn’t Recognize Diplomat

The Israeli police said that Majali arrived at the holy site “without any prior coordination with police officials,” prompting an officer at the compound entrance who didn’t recognize the diplomat to notify his commander about the unexpected visit. While awaiting instructions, officers held up Majali, along with Azzam al-Khatib, the director of the Jerusalem Waqf. The ambassador refused to wait and decided to leave, Israeli police said.

Some two hours later, Jordanian state-run media reported that Majali finally entered the compound without showing any kind of permission and held talks with al-Khatib, who “briefed him about the Israeli violations in Al-Aqsa.”

Footage widely shared online shows Majali, among other Muslim worshippers, at the limestone Lion’s Gate entrance to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City. An Israeli police officer blocks his path and yells at Majali in Arabic to go back, according to the video. Al-Khatib gets on the phone as the visitors argue with the officers amid the crackle of the policeman’s walkie-talkie.

“Had the ambassador briefly waited a few more minutes for the officer to be updated, the group would have entered,” the police said, stressing that “coordination” with Israeli police was routine ahead of such visits.

But Jordan described the move as an unusual provocation. The Jordanian Foreign Ministry said the Israeli ambassador had received a “strongly worded letter of protest to be conveyed immediately to his government.” It said Jordanian officials do not need permission to enter the site because of the country’s role as the official custodian and cautioned Israel against taking “any actions that would prejudice the sanctity of the holy places.”

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Putin May Not Want Peace and May Need to Be ‘Dealt With Differently’

DON'T MISS

Is It Bad to Chew Gum All Day?

DON'T MISS

Dollar Doubts Dominate Gathering of Global Economic Leaders

DON'T MISS

US Judge Temporarily Stops West Texas Immigrant Deportations Under Alien Enemies Act

DON'T MISS

Shedeur Sanders’ Long Wait Ends When Browns Take Him in the 5th Round of the NFL Draft

DON'T MISS

Only About Half of Republicans Say Trump Has Focused on the Right Priorities

DON'T MISS

ICE Deports the Mother of an Infant and a 2-Year-Old Who Is a US Citizen

DON'T MISS

Israeli Airstrike Kills 10 People, Half of Them Children

DON'T MISS

Shedeur Sanders Is Still Waiting for a Call as the NFL Draft Enters the Final Day

DON'T MISS

Israel’s AI Experiments in the War in Gaza Raise Ethical Concerns

UP NEXT

China Exempts Some Goods From US Tariffs

UP NEXT

Trump Poised to Offer Saudi Arabia Over $100 Billion Arms Package, Sources Say

UP NEXT

Two From Search Group That Uncovered Mexico’s ‘Ranch of Horror’ Killed

UP NEXT

Israeli Fire Kills at Least 44 People in Gaza, Hits a Police Station

UP NEXT

Trump Tells Putin to ‘STOP’ After Russian Attacks Kills 10 in Kyiv

UP NEXT

Earthquake of Magnitude 6.02 Strikes Turkey, GFZ Says

UP NEXT

Israel Revokes Visas for 27 French Lawmakers Days Before Planned Visit

UP NEXT

Jordan Outlaws Muslim Brotherhood, Confiscates Assets and Offices

UP NEXT

White House Would Consider Cutting China Tariffs as Part of Talks, Source Says

UP NEXT

Israeli Airstrikes Kill 10 in School Housing Displaced Families, Hit Children’s Hospital, Medics Say

US Judge Temporarily Stops West Texas Immigrant Deportations Under Alien Enemies Act

6 hours ago

Shedeur Sanders’ Long Wait Ends When Browns Take Him in the 5th Round of the NFL Draft

6 hours ago

Only About Half of Republicans Say Trump Has Focused on the Right Priorities

9 hours ago

ICE Deports the Mother of an Infant and a 2-Year-Old Who Is a US Citizen

10 hours ago

Israeli Airstrike Kills 10 People, Half of Them Children

10 hours ago

Shedeur Sanders Is Still Waiting for a Call as the NFL Draft Enters the Final Day

10 hours ago

Israel’s AI Experiments in the War in Gaza Raise Ethical Concerns

10 hours ago

Paul Skenes Strikes Out 9, Wins Duel With Yamamoto in Pirates’ Victory Over Dodgers

10 hours ago

Eovaldi Outlasts Verlander as Rangers Beat Giants

10 hours ago

Rams Take Oregon Tight End Terrance Ferguson in Second Round After Trading Out of First

11 hours ago

Trump Says Putin May Not Want Peace and May Need to Be ‘Dealt With Differently’

President Donald Trump said Saturday that Russia’s escalating bombardment of Ukraine had left him concerned that Russia did not want to end ...

5 hours ago

5 hours ago

Trump Says Putin May Not Want Peace and May Need to Be ‘Dealt With Differently’

5 hours ago

Is It Bad to Chew Gum All Day?

5 hours ago

Dollar Doubts Dominate Gathering of Global Economic Leaders

6 hours ago

US Judge Temporarily Stops West Texas Immigrant Deportations Under Alien Enemies Act

6 hours ago

Shedeur Sanders’ Long Wait Ends When Browns Take Him in the 5th Round of the NFL Draft

9 hours ago

Only About Half of Republicans Say Trump Has Focused on the Right Priorities

10 hours ago

ICE Deports the Mother of an Infant and a 2-Year-Old Who Is a US Citizen

10 hours ago

Israeli Airstrike Kills 10 People, Half of Them Children

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend