Jordan’s King Abdullah warned about “red lines” concerning Jerusalem holy sites as Benjamin Netanyahu finalizes Israel’s most right-wing coalition ever.
“If people want to get into a conflict with us, we’re quite prepared,” he told CNN’s Becky Anderson. “I always like to believe that, let’s look at the glass half full, but we have certain red lines. And if people want to push those red lines, then we will deal with that.”
Under Jordan’s custodianship of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jews have been allowed to visit the holy site but are barred from praying there. Abdullah warned earlier this year that the Israeli occupation was conducting “illegal provocative measures” amid clashes at the Jerusalem holy sites, calling for increased international pressure on the Bennett-Lapid government.
“We have to be concerned about a next intifada. And if that happens, that’s a complete breakdown of law and order and one that neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians will benefit from. I think there is a lot of concern from all of us in the region, including those in Israel that are on our side on this issue, to make sure that doesn’t happen,” he continued.
Since 2019, the Israeli occupation forces have grown increasingly tolerant of Jewish prayer, which has long been barred due to law enforcement officials’ concern that allowing such religious expression could lead to violence at the site that is also holy to Muslims. Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right extremist given a key role as national security minister, has vowed to combat Israel’s “apartheid” regime preventing Jews from worshiping at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
“I don’t think those individuals are under just a Jordanian microscope. They’re under an international microscope,” Abdullah noted concerning Ben-Gvir. “I have to believe that there’s a lot of people in Israel also that are concerned as much as we are.”
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