The Jordanian government this week announced that, in retaliation for the noise pollution environmental protection law a.k.a. the “Muezzin Law,” which bans the use of mosque PA systems from 11 PM to 7 AM and limits the decibels of said PA systems around the clock, Jordan plans to increase the number of its Waqf “charity” agents on the Temple Mount from 800 to 1,000, Makor Rishon reported Friday.
The Jordanian Minister for Islamic holy sites Wael Arabiat on Wednesday told a meeting of the Jordanian Parliament’s Committee on Palestinian Affairs about the decision. Arabiat added that Waqf agents will be paid bonuses based on their efforts to protect “sites sacred to Islam and Christianity” in order to “support the firm stand of our brethren in Jerusalem.”
Arabiat said the Jordanian move is an expression of the Jordanian government’s “objection to the [Muezzin] legislation which is contrary to the freedom of worship.”
Last year the Waqf requested an increase from 600 to 670 agents, but then the Jordanian opposition parties demanded an increase to 800 agents and King Abdullah gave in.
Habayit Hayehudi Minister Uri Ariel responded to the new move saying, “The attempt to buy quiet from terrorists, the Waqf and the Jordanian king on the Temple Mount will lead to another, more dangerous surrender.”
Ariel called on Prime Minister Netanyahu to impose Israeli sovereignty effectively in Jerusalem and especially on the Temple Mount.