Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi on Friday ousted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a canceled visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem by Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan.
Safadi confirmed that Jordan did not retaliate against Netanyahu, prompting him to postpone a planned visit to the United Arab Emirates.
The diplomatic spate underscores the Jordanian frustrations with Netanyahu and the tension between the two neighbors that has been simmering for years.
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Safadi was speaking on CNN on Friday and asked if Netanyahu was correct in blaming the “problems” with Jordan for coordinating the overflight for postponing his visit to the UAE on Thursday.
‘You renounce an agreement with Jordan, disrupt a religious visit, create circumstances that made this religious visit impossible during a holy occasion, and then expect to come to Jordan and fly out of Jordan? Let’s be serious here, ”Safadi said.
Hussein would visit the Temple Mount on Wednesday for Lailat al-Miʿraj, a holiday that the Prophet Muhammad’s voyage undertook. Safadi accused Israel of violating an agreement on the arrangements for the visit, while Israel said Hussein had promised greater security than promised.
“You disrupt a religious visit, you create circumstances that made this religious visit impossible during a holy occasion, and then you expect to come to Jordan and fly out of Jordan, let’s be serious here.” @AymanHsafadi over Israel blaming Jordan for the canceled UAE trip. pic.twitter.com/yLDp3O7vhQ
– Connect the world (@CNNConnect) 12 March 2021
“A religious visit for worship during an extremely sacred occasion was interrupted by Israeli measures that we do not understand and do not accept,” Safadi said in the interview.
“At the last moment, Israel renounced these agreements, they violated their obligations as an occupying power and they also violated the right to freedom of worship, so we are very dissatisfied with and angry about it.”
Under their 1994 peace treaty, Israel recognizes Jordan as the custodian of the Temple Mount, which houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism and the site of the third holiest shrine in Islam.
Israel conquered the Temple Mount and the Old City of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War of Jordan. However, it allowed the Jordanian Waqf to continue to maintain religious authority on top of the mountain, where Jews may visit but not pray.
Safadi’s latest criticism comes a day after he said the Israelis unilaterally wanted to impose restrictions on the royal visit and apparently blame the ghost on the upcoming Israeli election, in remarks apparently aimed at Netanyahu.
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi at a press conference in Berlin on March 10, 2021. (Kay Nietfeld / Pool / AFP)
Israel has disputed Safadi’s report, and officials quoted by the Kan broadcaster say the prince’s security delegation that arrived at the border is larger and more heavily armed than agreed. According to the report, Hussein canceled the visit when Israeli authorities insisted that the Jordanians comply with the terms of the agreement.
Netanyahu said Israel had rectified matters with Jordan and that he would visit the UAE soon.
The prime minister would meet the Crown Prince of the Emirates during his first official visit to the UAE since Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi forged diplomatic ties last year.
Although no alternative date has been given for the trip, Channel 12 News said in an unpublished report on Friday that Netanyahu will travel to the UAE this week.
The network also reported that the US had told the United Arab Emirates to scale down Netanyahu’s trip before it was canceled, due to concerns about interference in Israel’s election on March 23. The report is limited to a short stay at the airport.
Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during a White House meeting in Washington on May 15, 2017. (Andrew Harnik / AP)
Separately, a Channel 13 news report said that Netanyahu wanted to sign a peace treaty with Sudan while in Abu Dhabi, but the US said that the United Arab Emirates hosting such a ceremony would amount to interfering in the election.
According to Hebrew media reports on Wednesday, Netanyahu may also have hoped to meet with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and / or Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during the trip, which was scheduled for 12 days before Israel holds its fourth national election in two. years.
Netanyahu is seen as eager to undertake the trip ahead of the March 23 election.
Surveys show that the prime minister is struggling to muster the 61-seat Knesset majority that will enable him to form a coalition, although his rivals also have no clear route to power, and the timing of Netanyahu’s trip campaign could strengthen.
The trip is expected to be a celebration of Israel’s normalization agreements, as well as a step towards promoting Netanyahu’s diplomatic credentials before the election. Netanyahu may also have hoped to use the visit to consolidate a campaign against a US return to the Iran nuclear deal.
The trip to the UAE had been planned for several months, but was postponed on several occasions. Netanyahu was originally scheduled to undertake the trip in November, then December and then in January and February, but the pandemic, scheduling and internal political crises led to repeated delays.
Emirati officials told the Walla news website on Wednesday that there were concerns that the visit would be seen as an intervention in the Israeli election, but in the end Abu Dhabi reluctantly agreed to the trip.
Israel on Friday approved 700 Jordanians’ access to the hotel industry in Eilat and eased restrictions on land border crossings with Jordan and Egypt.
