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Jordan Renews Its Request to Build a Fifth Minaret on the Temple Mount

(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Nadav Shragai - Jordan has asked Israel to allow it to build a fifth minaret on the Temple Mount, facing the Mount of Olives. The Jordanian request is not new, though at this stage Israel does not intend to allow it. Jordan has renewed its request as part of its growing rivalry with Turkey over influence in Jerusalem's Old City and on the Temple Mount. The four previous minarets on the Temple Mount were built during the Mameluke period (1260-1517). Israel's relations with Jordan on the Temple Mount are based on informal understandings that are intended to prevent the growth of extreme elements on the mount, such as Hamas and the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel. The Israel-Jordan peace treaty signed in 1994 states that out of all the Arab countries, Israel will grant top priority to Jordan with regard to the sites that are holy to Islam in Jerusalem. The writer, a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center, is a journalist and commentator who has documented the dispute over Jerusalem for 30 years.
2018-10-26 00:00:00
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