United Nation’s Safety Council members voiced concern and harassed the necessity to preserve the established order on the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, however didn’t decide to any motion days after Israel’s new far-right safety minister Itamar Ben-Gvir made a controversial go to to the location, which Palestinian leaders known as “an unprecedented provocation”.
The decades-old establishment on the Al Aqsa Mosque compound permits solely Muslim worship on the web site, which is Islam’s third-holiest after Mecca and Medina.
However the web site can be revered by Jews, who name it the Temple Mount. Israel’s far-right teams have lengthy tried to vary the established order and permit Jewish prayer on the web site. Calls have additionally been made by the far proper for a Jewish temple to be constructed instead of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour pushed for the Safety Council on Thursday to take motion towards Israel over Ben-Gvir’s provocative actions. Israel’s new safety minister is well-known for racist incitement towards Arabs, opposition to Palestinian statehood, and for main raids by settlers into the Al Aqsa Mosque compound and the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem.
“What purple line does Israel have to cross for the Safety Council to lastly say, sufficient is sufficient?” Mansour requested the 15-member council, accusing Israel of displaying “absolute contempt”.
Al Jazeera’s Diplomatic Editor James Bays, reporting from UN headquarters in New York, stated Safety Council members had expressed concern concerning the state of affairs on the Al Aqsa compound and the risks of escalation “however their phrases have been measured and restricted, with little direct criticism of Israel”.
The Palestinian ambassador, Bays stated, expressed his dismay that the council was taking no motion and warned the council that the state of affairs may flip into an rebellion.
“All 15 members of the Safety Council restated, as they at all times do, their dedication to a two-state resolution. Nonetheless, in current days, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated his new authorities helps continued settlement throughout Palestinian land, additional undermining that internationally-desired end result,” Bays stated.
A senior UN political affairs official, Khaled Khiari, advised the council assembly that it was the primary go to to the location by an Israeli cupboard minister since 2017.
“Whereas the go to was not accompanied or adopted by violence, it’s seen as notably inflammatory given Mr Ben-Gvir’s previous advocacy for adjustments to the established order,” he stated.
Ben-Gvir as soon as known as for ending the ban on Jewish prayer on the web site however he has been non-committal on the difficulty since aligning with Netanyahu. Different members of Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Energy social gathering nonetheless advocate such a transfer.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN slammed the Safety Council assembly as “pathetic” and “absurd”.
Forward of the session, the Israeli consultant, Gilad Erdan. advised reporters there was “completely no cause” for the assembly to be held.
“To carry a Safety Council session on a non-event is really absurd,” he stated.
Erdan stated Ben-Gvir’s go to was “in step with the established order and whoever claims in any other case is barely inflaming the state of affairs”.
“To assert that this temporary and fully legit go to ought to result in an emergency Safety Council session is pathetic,” he stated.
Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, which have peace treaties with Israel, condemned what they known as Ben-Gvir’s “storming” of Al-Aqsa.
Amman summoned the Israeli ambassador and stated the go to had violated worldwide legislation and “the historic and authorized establishment in Jerusalem”.
Saudi Arabia, with which Netanyahu needs to forge a peace deal, additionally criticised Ben-Gvir. Turkey, which has just lately ended a long-running diplomatic rift with Israel, additionally condemned the go to as “provocative”.
The US, which is dedicated to a two-state resolution to the battle between Israel and the Palestinians, stated it was “involved by any unilateral acts that exacerbate tensions or undermine the viability of a two-state resolution”, the US’s deputy UN ambassador, Robert Wooden, advised the council on Thursday.
“We notice that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s governing platform requires preservation of the established order with relation to the holy locations. We count on the federal government of Israel to observe by means of on that dedication,” Wooden stated.
The UN Safety Council has adopted a number of resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian battle over time and helps the two-state resolution to peace within the Center East.