Stripping Jordan of Al-Aqsa custodianship would trigger 'outbreak of violence', expert says
A US-Israeli plan to strip the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan of its historic custodianship of Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque complex would lead to an “outbreak of violence” in the Middle East, Israeli-American attorney Daniel Seidemann told Middle East Eye.
“What starts in Jerusalem doesn’t stay in Jerusalem," said Seidemann, who is also the founder of Terrestrial Jerusalem, a non-governmental organisation that tracks the development of Israeli settlements in occupied East Jerusalem.
"This would send shockwaves throughout the Arab and Muslim world,” he added.
Seidemann, who is widely recognised as an expert on Jerusalem and its holy sites, confirmed on Tuesday an exclusive report by MEE that revealed a US-Israeli plan to strip Jordan of its custodianship and declare Al-Aqsa a "multi-faith centre”.
“When handled appropriately, Al-Aqsa is quite stable. But when its complexities are ignored, it becomes one of the most dangerous places on the planet,” he said.
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“Jordanian custodianship is absolutely essential to maintaining the stability of Al-Aqsa,” he added.
US, Jordanian and Palestinian officials, as well as western and Gulf Arab sources, told MEE in May that under the plan, championed by President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, the authority of the Jordanian-backed Islamic Waqf would abruptly end and a new body created by the Israeli government would declare the Al-Aqsa Mosque a "multi-faith centre”. Kushner has no official role in the Trump administration.
According to the officials, all of whom requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, the "new arrangement" would grant Jews "equal access" to the Muslim site and formally allow large-group Jewish prayer.
'Totally false'
A western official and a source briefed by the Jordanian government told MEE that, according to a proposal they had seen, Arab countries could be granted "rotational" oversight of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex.
"We have heard from a reliable source that there is indeed a US proposal to replace/annul Jordanian custodianship over Al Aqsa,” Seidemann wrote on X.
“We have been told that a document has been circulated proposing to replace Jordanian custodianship with that of a consortium of international/interfaith parties, including Muslim/Arab and Jewish representatives,” he added.
Seidemann has spent decades tracking the Israeli settlement movement in occupied East Jerusalem. He has been recognised by the UK and France for his work and is consulted by foreign governments on Jerusalem’s geopolitics.
Israel took control of East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan following the 1967 war. The occupation is considered illegal under international law.
MEE reported that Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates had all been briefed on the US proposal.
According to two Gulf Arab sources and another source familiar with the Jordanian government's thinking, Saudi Arabia, which shares a deep history and robust alliance with Jordan, is opposed to the proposal.
A US official issued a terse statement to MEE denying the White House was actively working to strip Jordan of its custodianship, calling the report "totally false”.
Jordan's raison d'etre
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing earlier this month about the report and said, “I’ve just never heard that before,” adding that the US had a “great” relationship with Jordan.
The Trump administration has not explicitly stated that it recognises Jordan’s custodianship of the Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.
For Jordan, custodianship over the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the wider complex is central to the legitimacy of the Hashemite monarchy itself.
Jordan's ruling family traces its custodianship over Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem to 1924, when Palestine was under British Mandate rule.
The Hashemites were granted custodianship in Jerusalem after losing control of Islam's two holiest cities, Mecca and Medina, to the Al Saud family.
Jordan's role as custodian was later recognised in its 1994 peace treaty with Israel, which acknowledged Amman's "special role" in Jerusalem's Islamic holy sites.
“Custodianship is the foundation, the raison d'etre of Jordan," Seidemann told MEE. "Without custodianship over Al-Aqsa, Jordan, as a state, would be widely perceived as an artificial construct."
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