Source: Kerry: Israel, Jordan Agree to Reduce Tensions at Holy Sites
Kerry: Israel, Jordan Agree to Reduce Tensions at Holy Sites Kerry: Israel, Jordan Agree to Reduce Tensions at Holy Sites U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday that Israel and Jordan had agreed on specific steps, including video monitoring, to reduce tensions that have led to violent clashes in Jerusalem’s holy sites sacred to both Jews and Muslims.
“All the violence and the incitement to violence must stop,” Kerry said. “Leaders must lead.”
He was speaking in Amman, where he met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Spiraling violence in recent weeks has resulted in the deaths of at least 10 Israelis and about 50 Palestinians. On Saturday, Israeli police killed a Palestinian man who allegedly had attempted to stab a security official at a crossing point between Israel and the Palestinian-administered West Bank. Kerry has met during the past three days with all parties to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He said that all the leaders had pledged themselves to end the violence, which he saw as a “a first step” toward broader agreements. Specifically, Kerry said, there is general agreement on a plan for around-the-clock video monitoring of the holy site known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount — the focus of the recent tensions. The top U.S. diplomat also said he relayed Israel’s pledge that it had no intention of changing the status of the site, which is shared by representatives of both religious groups and the Jordanian and Israeli governments. Under long established rules, Israel is responsible for security at the site and governs access to the compound, while a Jordanian-run Islamic society maintains administrative control of the site. Israel recently lifted an age restriction on Muslim worshippers at the site, which had been in place on Fridays since clashes erupted in mid-September and had barred younger Muslim men from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. On Friday, an Israeli police spokesman said the decision to lift the age restriction followed a security assessment. Kerry said Israel would reject any attempt or suggestion that control over Temple Mount be altered, and that it reaffirmed Jordan’s historic role as custodian of the site. Based on his talks Saturday in Jordan and a meeting with Netanyahu in Berlin on Thursday, Kerry said he hoped “we can finally put to rest some of the false assumptions [and] perceptions about the holy site … [that] are stoking the tensions and fueling the violence.” Kerry said video monitoring of Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount would provide “comprehensive visibility and transparency” of conditions throughout the holy site at all times. He said he saw such an arrangement as “a game-changer” that would discourage any attempts to provoke disorder. Further talks will be necessary to arrange details, Kerry said, adding that his special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian issues, Frank Lowenstein, was remaining in Jordan to continue meetings with senior officials in the kingdom. Kerry said he understood that there are “serious additional issues” between Israelis and Palestinians apart from the recent incidents in Jerusalem. “But this is the first step,” he said, “to creating some space to resume those steps and that dialogue.” Anticipating “future efforts to advance peace and stability,” Kerry also noted that Israel’s prime minister would visit Washington on November 9. Following his talks in Amman, Kerry flew to Saudi Arabia late Saturday for meetings in Riyadh with senior figures from the royal family and government. 24/10/2015 12:21 by: Voice of America
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