“The United States strongly defends maintaining the “status quo” of Jerusalem’s holy sites. Any unilateral action that threatens the status quo is unacceptable,” said a spokesman for the White House Security Council.
The official recalled that Netanyahu promised to maintain the “status quo” of the holy places, for which he urged him to “fulfill this obligation.”
Netanyahu defends visit to Gvir
The Israeli prime minister defended Gvir’s controversial visit and assured that he would not change the status quo of the site, which is sacred to Jews and Muslims.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to unrelentingly uphold the status quounchanged, on the Temple Mount,” the president’s office said in a statement.
At a subsequent press conference, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre emphasized that the Joe Biden government would continue to defend the “status quo” of the Esplanade of Mosques “very strongly and clearly.”
Actions can escalate tensions
While State Department spokesman Ned Price recalled that high-level visits to the site have “only exacerbated tensions” in the past.
“We are very concerned about any unilateral action that could exacerbate these tensions.”said the spokesman, who assured that the United States “repeatedly” conveyed to both Israel and Jordan, the country that guards the site, the importance of not changing the situation.
Palestinian factions condemn visit
The visit of Ben Gvir, who toured the compound and never stopped to pray, was condemned both by Palestinian factions in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, as well as by several Arab and Islamic countries, the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. (OIC).
The Islamist movement Hamas and other groups in Gaza described Ben Gvir’s visit as a “dangerous escalation”. and provocations against our Palestinian people, indicating a religious war in the region.”
“We will not abide by what Hamas says,” Netanyahu’s office responded.
In addition, he rejected the condemnation of the Arab world, which described this fact as a violation of the status quo in the holy place, and argued that other Israeli ministers had already visited the Esplanade in the past and that, therefore, “the assertion that the change was made in the status quo is unfounded.
Current status since 1967
Under the status quo that has been in place since 1967, when Israel occupied the east side of Jerusalem, where the esplanade is located, the fence is exclusively for the worship of Muslims, and Jews can enter only as visitorssince Jewish law forbids their believers from praying in the most sacred place for their religion, which is reserved only for some rabbis.
The esplanade of mosques is sacred both to Muslims – it is the third most important place in Islam, since it houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, where Muhammad ascended to heaven – and to the Jews, who call it the Mount of the Temple because they believe that there were built two sacred temples, Solomon’s and Herod’s, which were destroyed by the Romans in 70.
A visit to the Esplanade of Mosques in September 2000 by then Likud leader Ariel Sharon was the trigger for the Second Intifada.and the mass infiltration of Jews – and police charges against Palestinians – in the territory was one of the causes of violence in May 2021, leading to a major military escalation in Gaza and clashes between Arabs and Jews in various mixed cities of Israel.
Source: La Opinion
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