US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke by phone with his Israeli counterpart Meir Ben-Shabbat “to express the United States’ serious concerns about the situation in Jerusalem, including violent confrontations at the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount during the last days of Ramadan,” the White House said Sunday.
According to the White House readout of the call, “Sullivan highlighted recent engagements by senior US officials with senior Israeli and Palestinian officials and key regional stakeholders to press for steps to ensure calm, deescalate tensions and denounce violence.”
Sullivan also “reiterated the United States’ serious concerns about the potential evictions of Palestinian families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood,” the statement reads.
The two agreed that “the launching of rocket attacks and incendiary balloons from Gaza towards Israel is unacceptable and must be condemned.”
“Sullivan encouraged the Israeli government to pursue appropriate measures to ensure calm during Jerusalem Day commemorations,” the statement reads.
He also “expressed the administration’s commitment to Israel’s security and to supporting peace and stability throughout the Middle East, and assured Mr. Ben-Shabbat that the US will remain fully engaged in the days ahead to promote calm in Jerusalem,” the White House said.
According to a senior Israeli official, on all phone calls with foreign officials, “when people tell us they want to see calm in Jerusalem, we say we agree, and maybe you could tell the Palestinians that they should also be acting to calm things.”
On Monday, Israel made two decisions in hopes of quieting the unrest in the capital, the official said.
“Stopping Jews from going to the Temple Mount is not an easy decision,” the official said. “To interfere in the legal process and for the attorney-general to approach the court” to postpone a ruling in the Sheikh Jarrah/Shimon Hatzadik property dispute “is not normal.”
“We do this because we want things to calm down,” the official added. “Maybe ask the other side what they’re doing.”
In addition, the official said, the Israeli government warns against “sending a message to the Palestinians that their violence brings results” in terms of international pressure on Israel, which would be “counterproductive both in the short and long term.”
On Friday, State Department spokesman Ned Price said the US was “extremely concerned” about ongoing confrontations in Jerusalem.
“There is no excuse for violence, but such bloodshed is especially disturbing now, coming as it does on the last days of Ramadan,” he said in a statement. “This includes Friday’s attack on Israeli soldiers and reciprocal ‘price tag’ attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, which we condemn in no uncertain terms. We call on Israeli and Palestinian officials to act decisively to deescalate tensions and bring a halt to the violence.”