The recent United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) decision to deny Jews any connection to the Temple Mount was no coincidence. The ill-considered decision came about under the full and continuous support, and at the initiation of, the king of Jordan.
This is no longer a secret. The UNESCO move came barely three weeks after the king spoke at the UN promising doom to Israel because he alleges Israel is unfair to the Palestinians.
This well-calculated and very sophisticated harassment from Jordan’s king, however, was not a mere reaction to anything Israel has done – in fact, as an academic and close observer of Arab affairs, I have seen it as Jordan’s policy for years.
For example, with regard to the current and vicious wave of knife attacks that was launched from the Temple Mount, an official Israel statement was published by Arutz Sheva that confirmed Jordan’s government was an instigator by both actions and verbal incitement, and let’s not forget that the Temple Mount is run fully by the Jordanian king’s own office.
Further, recently Israel expelled Jordan’s state news agency’s reporter, Modar S. al-Momani, for Jerusalem for being a security risk. It turns out the man was not only a reporter but also a senior Jordanian Wakf official – he even bragged about it after he was expelled. Official documents proving this have been posted on Facebook.
What is to be made certain here is that Jordan’s king is not our friend, in fact he and his regime are a part of the problem. And let’s not forget the non-Palestinian Jordanian official who attacked the guards in front of the Temple Mount just three weeks ago, the so-called “tourist” from Jordan.
At the same time let’s not forget why Jordan’s king is doing all of this: he is weak, having lost much of his power, and wants to direct Jordanians to hate and fight Israel instead of toppling him.
Either way, we must realize he is fragile and could fall, and we must seek our own security and interest by making sure the next regime in Jordan is our friend. We cannot keep fantasizing about a good king next door, and to those who keep indulging in such fantasy: wake up, the king next door is shamelessly anti-Israel.
He also supports the Islamists for his own interest, like him selling British weapons to Islamic State, as confirmed by The New York Times and The Daily Mail. Why cannot we see the facts? The king is a threat to Israeli national interests and security and we cannot keep fooling ourselves.
The author is a Researcher and expert on Middle East affairs.