Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will keep Temple Mount order amid report Abdullah won’t talk to him
The Prime Minister’s Office refused comment Thursday on a spate of reports that Jordan’s King Abdullah II is refusing to take phone calls or meet secretly with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu because of the tension around the Temple Mount.
According to the reports, Abdullah does not want to create a “business as usual” atmosphere with Netanyahu while the situation around the Temple Mount remains tense.
Nevertheless, the prime minister did not back off from stressing that Israel will preserve the status quo and law and order at the site.
Following Thursday’s security cabinet meeting on stiffening penalties for rock-throwers, Netanyahu said that Israel has told its neighbors that it will preserve law and order on the Temple Mount, and is calling on the Palestinian Authority to “stop its wild incitement.”
“We are preserving the status quo,” he said. “We are not violating it and all comments that we intend to harm Muslim holy sites are completely baseless.”