Five Arab Knesset members from the Arab Joint List are traveling to Jordan today (Sunday Sept. 20) to meet with King Abdullah II, according to a report on Israel Radio.
MK Ahmed Tibi told the interviewer on the government-run radio network that he and his fellow lawmakers will discuss “the change in the status quo at the Al Aqsa mosque” on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Palestinian Arabs have continued organized disturbances at the site for more than a week, forcing Israel Police to personally escort every single Jewish visitor to the site in order to ensure their physical protection. As a result, a number of police officers were injured in the line of duty.
It is likely the meeting between the Hashemite king and the Israeli Arab lawmakers will focus on the escalating Arab violence and the tensions at the site, which is under the legal custodianship of Jordan, and has been since the signing of the peace treaty with Israel in 1994.
Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has stated repeatedly this week, publicly and in discussions with world leaders, that his government has no intention of changing the status quo on the Temple Mount.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the United States have all weighed in on the importance of bringing the violence under control at the site, although most of the parties appear to be blaming the Israeli government for the attacks on Jewish visitors by Palestinian Arab rioters.
The five Mks are expected to travel to the Turkish capital for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following their meeting with King Abdullah II in Amman.