Fearing backlash, Jordan asserts Aqsa custodianship

Jordan's tough stance towards Israel over Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque reflects a determination to preserve its custodianship of the flashpoint site as well as its own stability, analysts say.

By recalling its ambassador to Israel, the Hashemite kingdom sent a message that deploying police inside the mosque compound had crossed a red line and put their diplomatic ties in jeopardy.

In parallel, Jordan's King Abdullah II hosted a diplomatic push which brought together US Secretary of State John Kerry and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks in Amman on Thursday.

"Recalling the Jordanian ambassador and the diplomatic push sent a tough message to Israel that violating Al-Aqsa would endanger the peace treaty," Oraib Rantawi, head of Amman's Al-Quds Center for Political Studies, told AFP.

Kerry would not have interrupted his busy schedule and flown to the region "unless Washington realized that ties were deteriorating between Jordan and Israel, and Israel and the Palestinians", he said.

The status of Jerusalem is one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the Al-Aqsa compound is the scene of frequent confrontations between protesters and police. more

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