AMMAN: Jordanians on Thursday welcomed a government decision to prevent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from using their airspace to reach the UAE, with his trip being shelved because of the block.
Israeli media reported that the decision was an apparent response to interventions in the visit of Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah to Al-Aqsa Mosque on the occasion of Isra wal Miraj, which marks the night that Prophet Muhammad went on a journey from Makkah to Jerusalem and then to heaven.
Deputy Jordanian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the Israelis had changed the crown prince’s visit arrangements that would have made things difficult for Jerusalem residents.
“There were clear agreements with the Israelis and we were surprised when they ordered new arrangements that would add restrictions to the Jerusalemites in a night of worship.”
Adnan Abu Odeh, a former adviser to both King Hussein and King Abdullah, welcomed closing the airspace to Netanyahu.
“The Israelis need to understand that Prince Hussein is not a tourist visiting Jerusalem, but that the Hashemites are the custodians of the holy places in Jerusalem,” he said.
Safadi added that the crown prince had canceled his visit to Al-Aqsa because of the changes to the visit arrangements. “His royal highness will not allow difficulties to Muslims and to have the evening’s activities turned upside down and, as a result, he canceled the visit in order to preserve the rights to worship without intervention.”
The foreign minister, speaking in Paris, said that the Haram Al-Sharif was a holy place for Muslims and that there was no Israel sovereignty over it. “We don’t expect their intervention.”
Retired Jordanian Air Force Maj. Gen. Mamoun Abu Nuwar said the Israelis needed to know that their actions had consequences.
“In the relationship between countries, actions have consequences,” he told Arab News. “This is a normal tit-for-tat that Israelis should have known would happen when they intervened with the visit of the crown prince.”
Jordanian MP Khalil Attiyeh welcomed the “excellent” government decision as it was done as part of the “treatment in kind.”
When the Israelis disrupted the visit of the crown prince, he said, they needed to know that Jordan would respond. “This decision made all Jordanians happy and we need more decisions like it. The arrogant Netanyahu should understand what Jordanians think of him.”
Attiyeh said that all Arab countries should prevent the Israeli leader from visiting their countries or using their airspace.
Azzam Khatib, head of the Jerusalem Waqf which administers the mosque, said the visit of tens of thousands of worshippers was a day of celebration for Al-Aqsa and for Jerusalem as both had suffered due to the coronavirus lockdowns.
Around 50,000 Palestinians attended celebrations in the mosque compound.
