47 Jordanian MPs call to cancel Israel peace treaty over Knesset Temple Mount debate
Lawmakers in Amman sign petition criticizing the Jordanian Government for not taking a "strong and solid stand" against the Knesset.
By JPOST.COM STAFFPolice patrol near the Temple Mount 370(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Knesset debate on Israeli sovereignty over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Tuesday sparked a furious reaction from Jordanian legislators in Amman including calls to cancel the peace treaty with Israel and to return the Jordanian envoy from Tel Aviv.In the peace treaty signed between the two governments nearly 20 years ago, Israel acknowledged the Hashemite Kingdom’s “special role” in the custodianship of the holy sites in Jerusalem.The Wakf Muslim religious trust was given oversight of the holy site following the Six Day War in 1967.On Tuesday, right-wing MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud Beytenu) protested the limitations on Jewish worship on the Mount in the first ever debate on sovereignty of the site ever to be held in the Knesset plenum. The debate came on the same day as the latest in a series of rioting on the Mount in the past month, by Arabs who object to any Jewish presence on the holy site. Tuesday morning’s riot resulted in three arrests and two police officers lightly injured. Stun grenades were used to disperse the rioters. Although the Supreme Court has upheld Jewish prayer rights on the site, the court allows police to prevent any form of worship there if they believe such activities will incite a “disturbance to the public order.”In response to the Knesset debate, 47 Jordanian MPs signed a petition on Tuesday that called for the cancellation of the 1994 peace treaty with Israel, The Jordan Times reported.The petition criticized the Jordanian government for not taking a “strong and solid stand against the Knesset’s attempts to revisit Jordan’s role as custodian of the Islamic and Christian shrines in Jerusalem," according to the report. MP Yihya Saud, Chairman of the House Palestine Committee, urged the government to expel the Israeli ambassador in Amman and recall the Jordanian ambassador from Tel Aviv in response to the Knesset debate, according to the news outlet.Further, the report cited Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh as saying last week: “Not one and not even 1,000 Knesset members can cancel the Hashemite custodianship of Islamic and Christian holy shrines in Jerusalem.”
