![Muslims gather to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Laylat al-Qadr, one of the Muslim's holiest nights, in Jerusalem, on 28 April 2022. [Mostafa Alkharouf - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Jerusalem-prayers_3.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Israeli Prime Minister, Yair Lapid, rejected a request from Jordan’s King Abdullah II, that the Israeli occupation authorities allow Amman to bring copies of the Qur’an into Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.
According to Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (Kan 11) the request was made during the two leaders’ meeting in Amman yesterday. Jordan had previously asked Lapid’s predecessor, Naftali Bennett, to approve the move and he too refused.
Kan reported that Jordan has made the request to bring copies of the Qur’an into Al-Aqsa Mosque during every meeting officials held in Amman with their Israeli counterparts, including when King Abdullah II met Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
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The Israeli-Jordanian understandings in the peace agreement in Wadi Araba recognises Jordan’s special status as guardian of Christian and Muslim sites in occupied East Jerusalem.
According to Kan 11, Bennett had strongly opposed the Jordanian request, and Lapid informed King Abdullah II that “there is nothing new in this regard,” referring to the continued Israeli rejection of the measure that “the Jordanian king is striving to take.”
The channel stated that the occupation’s security services in Jerusalem, however, “supported or at least did not oppose” the Jordanian proposal.
The official Israeli channel pointed out that Lapid’s objection is due to his own preference not to allow such a move during the election period, considering it a “diplomatic and political message” that may affect the results of Israel’s November election.