Jordan tells Israel to halt Western Wall expansion plans

Jordan is protesting Israeli plans to expand the Western Wall plaza as part of a landmark agreement that will open the plaza to pluralistic prayer, saying the move will damage ruins of a 7th-century palace that once stood at the site.

 

A Jordanian minister on Saturday expressed the Hashemite kingdom’s displeasure with Israel’s announcement that it will allocate an area of the Western Wall plaza for mixed-gender prayer.

 

Jordanian Media Affairs and Communications Minister Muhammad Momani urged Israel “not to meddle” with the Umayyad Palaces area, using an alternate term for an area south of the Western Wall, adjacent to the Temple Mount.

 

In a landmark decision last week, Israel’s cabinet voted to push ahead with a plan to expand the Western Wall plaza into that area to allow for pluralistic, mixed-gender and non-Orthodox services at the site, the holiest place where Jews may pray.

 

Read More: Jordan tells Israel to halt Western Wall expansion plans | The Times of Israel