Jordanian PM Abdullah Ensour says his country is calling off U.S.-brokered plan to install surveillance cameras on Temple Mount due to Palestinian concerns • Israeli official: Jordan submitted to pressure from Palestinian Authority and Islamic Movement.
By Shlomo Cesana, Israel Hayom Staff and Associated Press
The Temple Mount in Jerusalem
Jordan’s prime minister on Monday said his government has decided to call off a plan to install surveillance cameras on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, derailing a U.S.-brokered pact to ease tensions at the volatile hilltop holy site.
In a deal brokered last fall by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Jordan offered to install the cameras on the Temple Mount after violent clashes there between Arab rioters and Israeli security forces.
Palestinians had accused Israel of secretly plotting to take over the site — a charge Israel strongly denies — while Israel pointed to videos showing rioters using Al-Aqsa mosque as cover while throwing stones and firecrackers at police. The idea was that transparency by both sides would help ease tensions.
But the plan quickly ran into trouble, with the Palestinians objecting to Israeli demands to place cameras inside the mosque. The Palestinians also said that Israel would use the cameras to spy on them.
Jordan’s prime minister, Abdullah Ensour, told the state-run Petra News Agency on Monday that Jordan was calling off the plan due to Palestinian concerns.
“We were surprised since we announced our intention to carry out the project by the reactions of some of our brothers in Palestine who were skeptical about the project,” he said. “We have found that this project is no longer enjoying a consensus, and it might be controversial. Therefore we have decided to stop implementing it.”
The Jordanian decision could deal an embarrassing blow to Kerry, who had hailed the deal when it was announced in October and pushed behind the scenes in recent months for the sides to wrap it up.
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said on Monday that it was “unfortunate” that Jordan decided to call off the plan to install the surveillance cameras. He could not say whether Kerry had any plans to revisit the idea with Jordanian authorities.
“We still see the value in the use of cameras,” Kirby told reporters.
“I can’t tell you at this time that we’re going to you know, be assertive in terms of trying to have it revisited,” Kirby said. “But it doesn’t mean that we’ve changed our minds with respect to the value of that as a tool to increase transparency.”
An unnamed Israeli official said on Monday that Jordan had submitted to pressure from the Palestinian Authority and the Islamic Movement.
Palestinian Authority Jerusalem Affairs Minister Adnan Husseini said on Monday: “I think it’s a wise decision and we are with any decision taken by Jordan. I think Jordan studied the issue wisely and took all the issues into consideration until they reached this wise decision.”
The Temple Mount is revered by Jews as the location where the Temples once stood. Today, it is home to Al-Aqsa mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam. Under a decades-old arrangement, Jews are allowed to visit the Temple Mount but not to pray there.
Another cave in by Israel and another betrayal by Obama.