On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in, and Jordanian King Abdullah II said he is willing to work with the familiar leader, despite some in his country calling Netanyahu’s return to power the king’s “worst nightmare.”
“We will work with anybody and everybody, as long as we can bring people together,” Abdullah said.
Abdullah spoke with CNN two weeks before Netanyahu was sworn in for the third time as PM in Israel. During the interview, he said his focus was on efforts to protect Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem and Jordan’s efforts to develop the land adjacent to the areas.
For much of the last century, the kings of Jordan have been regarded as custodians of the Muslim and Christian holy sites of the region. This could lead to tensions with Netanyahu’s conservative coalition and its leaders, who forcefully assert Israel’s claims of ownership over Jerusalem’s holy sites.
“This is a UNESCO Heritage Site and needs to be protected,” Abdullah said. “We want to make sure that this is preserved for centuries to come.”
He claims the UNESCO-listed “Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls” is “misunderstood” and that a proper interpretation would be “inclusive.”
“Almost 15% of the visitors that come here are Muslim, because we revere Jesus Christ as the Messiah,” Abdullah said, “and the holy Mary is the holiest and most important of all women in our history.”
Islam’s third-holiest mosque, Al-Aqsa, is on the Temple Mount, one of Jerusalem’s most-disputed sites. The Temple Mount is also Judaism’s holiest site and the site of the two Jewish temples, according to the Times of Israel.
Jordan lost control of the Temple Mount and Old City to Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, a member of the controversial Religious Zionist Party, and other lawmakers in Netanyahu’s new coalition have long wanted to change the status quo, under which only Muslims can worship in the compound and Jews and Christians can only visit as tourists in specific hours.
“You are always going to get those people that will try and push that, and that is a concern,” Abdullah said. “But I don’t think those individuals are just under the Jordanian microscope, they are under an international microscope.”
Netanyahu spoke on Thursday of his primary focus areas now that he is back in the office.
“First of all, to block Iran,” he said in a press release. “We will see to our existence and security.”
He added the restoration of Israel’s security, the country’s cost of living, the housing problem, and “to dramatically expand the circle of peace” to his list of goals.
Netanyahu succeeds outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
Lapid and Abdullah met in September to discuss “calming the situation on the ground and halting terrorism ahead of the upcoming Jewish holidays,” according to Lapid’s office.
“Prime Minister Lapid emphasized that Israel will not stand idly by and will fight terrorism directed against it in all its forms, and will not allow harm to the security of its citizens,” the press release said.
“If people want to get into a conflict with us, we are quite prepared,” Abdullah said. “I always like to believe, that let us look at the glass half full. We have certain red lines. And if people want to push those red lines, then we will deal with that. But I have to believe that there is a lot of people in Israel that are concerned as much as we are.”
