Safadi’s comments came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scrapped a trip to the United Arab Emirates, citing Jordan’s delay in granting overflight permission. The Prime Minister’s Office said the delayed approval appeared to be in retaliation for the cancellation of Hussein’s planned visit Wednesday.He noted the prince had been set to visit on Lailat al-Miʿraj, a holiday marking a journey undertaken by the Prophet Muhammad.

Jordan’s Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah addresses the United Nations General Assembly, at United Nations headquarters, September 21, 2017. (Frank Franklin II/AP)

“We had reached arrangements for visits with the Israeli side. We were surprised when they sought to impose new arrangements and change the plan for the visit in a manner which would have distressed Jerusalemites during that night of worship. As such, the crown prince decided that he would not impose that upon Muslims or disturb the purity of that night,” Safadi said.

He added: “Al-Aqsa mosque is entirely a place of worship for Muslims. Israel has no sovereignty upon it…nor do we accept any Israeli intervention in its affairs.”

Under their 1994 peace treaty, Israel recognizes Jordan as the custodian of the Temple Mount — which houses the mosque. The Temple Mount is the holiest place in Judaism, as the site of the biblical Temples. It is the site of the third holiest shrine in Islam.

Israel captured the Temple Mount and Jerusalem’s Old City in the 1967 Six Day War and extended sovereignty throughout Jerusalem. However, it allowed the Jordanian Waqf to continue to maintain religious authority atop the mount, where Jews are allowed to visit, but not to pray.

According to the Kan public broadcaster, Israel’s account differs from Safadi’s, with officials saying the prince’s security delegation that arrived at the border was both larger and more heavily armed than had been agreed. The report said that when Israeli authorities insisted the Jordanians keep to the terms of the agreement, Hussein canceled the visit.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz also appeared to accuse Netanyahu of responsibility for the incident, saying in a statement Thursday that Israel is “committed to agreements with the Jordanians and has great respect for the Jordanian government and King Abdullah.”

約旦王儲侯塞因你前往耶路撒冷聖殿山阿克薩清真寺訪問，但因拜會細節如隨扈人數與武裝數量等與以色列政府無法達成一致而取消。約但在度重申對聖殿山宗教事務管轄權。

This paradoxical change in affairs has happened for a variety of reasons, including Iran’s increasing threats through groups like the Houthis in Yemen, and changes in Riyadh over the last decade that led to the conclusion that a possible US reduction in focus on the region required a closer alignment with Israel.

The milestones on the way to the current mutual interests between Israel and Saudi Arabia include several key symbolic incidents.

Like Israel, Saudi Arabia had an increasingly acrimonious relationship with the Obama administration in the wake of the 2015 Iran deal. It intervened in Yemen that year to stop the Iranian-backed Houthis taking Aden and putting an Iranian foothold on the strategic Bab el-Mandab straits. It is also suffering an onslaught of daily attacks by the Shi’ite Houthis using ballistic missiles and drones, much as Israel within its narrower territory has endured from Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.

Reuters reported in 2017 on secret contacts between Israel and Saudi Arabia. It was known then that former Saudi Intelligence head Prince Turki al-Faisal had shaken hands with Yaakov Amidror, a former senior adviser to Netanyahu, at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

In 2018, Israel denied a report that Saudi Arabia was seeking to purchase its Iron Dome air defense system. Saudi Arabia was key to enabling the Abraham Accords and signaled its support. Since then rumors included the November meeting in Saudi Arabia, and a February report about a possible four-country defensive pact.

For Israel, the positive position of Saudi Arabia on various issues is important. More challenging is the cold shoulder Riyadh has increasingly received from the US. That is balanced by Washington’s signals that it wants to listen more to Israel and the Gulf states regarding any new Iran deal. This is a major departure from the lead-up to the 2015 agreement. It also represents a shift in perceptions of Israel and Saudi Arabia in top level circles. 人們對沙特阿拉伯對最近的《亞伯拉罕協議》以及整個地區和以色列的重要性的認識有所增加。以色列和沙特阿拉伯之間實現當前共同利益的里程碑包括幾個關鍵的象徵性事件。

像以色列一樣，在2015年達成伊朗協議後，沙特阿拉伯與奧巴馬政府之間的關係日益密切。當年，它在也門進行干預，制止了伊朗支持的侯賽斯佔領亞丁，並在戰略性巴布埃爾·曼達布海峽上立下了立足之地。什葉派胡希斯人每天都遭到彈道導彈和無人駕駛飛機的襲擊，這就像它在狹窄地區的以色列遭受了黎巴嫩支持的黎巴嫩真主黨和加沙的哈馬斯一樣。

路透社在2017年報導了以色列和沙特阿拉伯之間的秘密接觸。當時人們知道，前沙特阿拉伯情報局局長Turki al-Faisal王子與華盛頓近東政策研究所的內塔尼亞胡前高級顧問Yaakov Amidror握手。

2018年，以色列否認有報導稱沙特阿拉伯正在尋求購買其鐵穹防空系統。沙特阿拉伯是實現《亞伯拉罕協議》的關鍵，並表示了支持。從那以後，謠言包括11月在沙特阿拉伯舉行的會議，以及2月關於可能的四國防禦協議的報告。

對於以色列來說，沙特阿拉伯在各種問題上的積極立場很重要。更具挑戰性的是利雅得越來越受到美國冷落。華盛頓的信號平衡了這一平衡，即它希望就任何新的伊朗協議更多地聽取以色列和海灣國家的意見。這與2015年協議的籌備階段有很大的出入。這也代表了高層人士對以色列和沙特阿拉伯的看法的轉變。

美國前總統巴拉克·奧巴馬（Barack Obama），喬治·W·布什（George W. Bush），比爾·克林頓（Bill Clinton）和吉米·卡特（Jimmy Carter）將與前第一夫人米歇爾·奧巴馬（Michelle Obama），勞拉·布什（Laura Bush），希拉里·克林頓（Hillary Clinton）和羅莎琳·卡特（Rosalynnn Carter）以及廣告委員會一起在兩個新的冠狀病毒疫苗公共服務公告（PSA）中出演週四宣布。布什總統在與奧巴馬和克林頓舉行的一項PSA中說：“科學清楚。這些疫苗將保護您和您所愛的人免受這種危險和致命的疾病的影響。”他敦促美國人接種疫苗。Former US Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter will star in two new public service announcements (PSA) for the coronavirus vaccine alongside former First Ladies Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton and Rosalynn Carter, the Ad Council announced on Thursday."The science is clear. These vaccines will protect you and those you love from this dangerous and deadly disease," said President Bush in one of the PSAs with Obama and Clinton, urging Americans to get vaccinated.

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