At a time when the Jewish state is battling an existential threat, President Joe Biden assured the Jordanian king that Jewish and Christian prayer would continue to be banned — under what is known as the “status quo” — on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, the holiest site in the Jewish faith and revered by Christians worldwide, so as not to inflame Muslim anger.
On Monday, President Biden and King Abdullah II of Jordan discussed the Gaza war at the White House, with Abdullah advocating for an immediate end to the war, even with an undefeated Hamas still ruling the coastal enclave. This despite the fact that the U.S.-designated Islamic terror group, whose charter calls for the murder of Jews and the elimination of the Jewish state through relentless jihad, perpetrated the worst terrorist attack in Israel’s history in October, in an operation stemming from its radical beliefs.
The Jordanian monarch also warned against an impending Israeli ground operation in Rafah, despite the location and rescue of two Israeli hostages there on Monday morning, as he insisted “we must not ignore the situation in the West Bank and in the holy sites of Jerusalem.”
According to a White House readout of the meeting, President Biden agreed, and “underscored the importance of upholding the status quo at the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount, recognizing Jordan’s crucial role as the custodian of Muslim holy places in Jerusalem.”
The historic “status quo” of the Temple Mount refers to an understanding and set of policies that govern the access and management of the site, in an arrangement meant to maintain the existing state of religious and political affairs concerning it.
While Israel officially controls access to the site and is responsible for its security, the Jordanian Waqf, an Islamic trust, has been the custodian of the site for over half a century, responsible for its management and for arranging Muslim worship.
Though, for Christians, Jerusalem and the Temple Mount hold significant historical and religious importance — being a site associated with many events in the life of Jesus Christ, according to Christian tradition; Christian pilgrims and tourists are also banned from praying on the site.
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