US Secretary of State John Kerry said yesterday that Israel and Jordan have agreed on steps aimed at reducing tensions at a holy site in Jerusalem that have fanned Israeli-Palestinian violence.
“All the violence and the incitement to violence must stop. Leaders must lead,” said Mr Kerry, in the Jordanian capital after meeting with King Abdullah II and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.
The top US diplomat said the steps include round-the-clock video monitoring and Israel’s reaffirming of Jordan’s special and historic role as custodian of the site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif.
The King suggested the monitoring, according to Mr Kerry, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted.
Israel has pledged to maintain the rules of worship at the site, and Israeli and Jordanian authorities will meet about bolstering security, Mr Kerry said.
Mr Kerry, who met with Mr Netanyahu in Berlin on Thursday, said the leaders “expressed their strong commitment to ending the violence and restoring the calm as soon as possible”.
“I hope that based on these conversations we can finally put to rest some of the false assumptions, perceptions about the holy site,” Mr Kerry said. “Those perceptions are stoking the tensions and fuelling the violence and it is important for us to end the provocative rhetoric and start to change the public narrative that comes out of those false perceptions.”
Outlining the series of understandings, Mr Kerry said:
• Israel “fully respects” Jordan’s “special role” as custodian of the site.
• Israel will continue to enforce its policy of religious worship, including “the fundamental fact” that it is Muslims who pray there and non-Muslims who visit.
• Israel has no intention of dividing the site and rejects any attempt to suggest otherwise.
• Israel welcomes increased coordination between Israeli authorities and Jordan to ensure that visitors and worshippers “demonstrate respect and restraint”.
Noting the video monitoring, Mr Kerry said it would provide “comprehensive visibility and transparency, and that could really be a game-changer in discouraging anybody from disturbing the sanctity of this holy site.”