
A Saudi-Israeli Peace Deal? Who Wants What, and Why! Part Two
A Saudi-Israeli Peace Deal?
Who Wants What, and Why!
Part Two
Saudi Arabia seeks to Reboot Jordan’s Control of the Temple Mount For Peace Deal With Israel
9/8/23 By Tim Buck
Fotet.org
Note: You can read part one of this series HERE.
For several years, Saudi Arabia has been signaling to Jordan that it intends to replace Amman as custodian of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.
Few things in Bible prophecy could open the door for Israel to build their Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem than to have Israel make an accord with the Saudi’s who control the Temple Mount! Such a strategic deal would open the door wide enough for Israel’s Temple to soon be atop the Temple Mount where Solomon’s Temple once stood!
The timing was not accidental when Saudi Arabia announced last week that its ambassador to Jordan will also take on the roles of ambassador to the Palestinian Authority and consul general in eastern Jerusalem.
The announcement came days after The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. and Saudi officials have agreed on the general outlines of an agreement for Riyadh to normalize relations with Israel.
Although Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on Sunday quickly shot down the idea of a Saudi consulate for the Palestinians in eastern Jerusalem, Saudi and Palestinian officials said, “The Saudi move is an indication of the possibility of an agreement to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia soon and is a signal to the entire region.”
Signal To Jordan
But Saudi and Palestinian officials also said, “Saudi Arabia wishes to signal to Jordan that it considers itself entitled to set foot in the al-Aqsa mosque in east Jerusalem, which would make the crown prince and the Al Saud dynasty responsible for the three holy places of Islam: Mecca, Medina and al-Aqsa.”
Saudi sources stressed that the religious issue is critical in the eyes of the royal palace, which must deal with a large group of Saudi princes and dignitaries who do not look favorably on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s pivot towards the West.
Since the Six-Day War of 1967, the day-to-day administration of the Temple Mount has been overseen by the Islamic Waqf, a religious trust, while Israel is responsible for security. However, the Israel-Jordan peace treaty of 1994 placed the Waqf under the purview of the Jordanian monarchy. As custodian of the Temple Mount, the Jordanian monarchy funds the Waqf and appoints its leadership.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (R) embraces King Abdullah II of Jordan as he arrives to meet with him at the Royal Palace in the capital Amman.
Turkey Moving In
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas recently visited Jordan’s King Abdullah in Amman. According to Arab reports, the two men discussed their concerns about what they consider about the Saudi encroachment in Jerusalem.
A Waqf official warned, “The Jordanian weakness since King Abdullah ascended to the throne in 1999 is being exploited by the Muslim Brotherhood and by their main patrons, Qatar and Turkey, and it is not liked by the Saudis, who tend to interfere in the management of the holy place for Muslims.”
The source added that both the Waqf and the PA are “concerned” and “disturbed” with the way Abdullah treats his position as custodian of the Temple Mount and his “lack of vigorous action” over the holy sites.
“Unlike his father, King Hussein, Abdullah transferred the al-Aqsa case to other officials at home. The monarchy is unable to be a significant authority vis-à-vis the Muslim Brotherhood and the Turks, which led to the weakening of the Waqf.”
The “Waqf” is an Islamic organization out of Jordan appointed to manage and control the Temple Mount. Westerners should note what the term waqt actually means. Waqf is “an inalienable religious endowment” in Islamic Law… a legal declaration. Palestinians define all of Israel as “waqf,” existing on Islamic holy land. Islam teaches, under Islamic law [Jihad] Muslims are to free the “waqf” from non-Muslims.
During Ramadan, which overlapped with the week-long Passover holiday, Palestinians, incited by Sheikh Raed Salah of the Muslim Brotherhood-aligned Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa mosque. Israeli officials had appealed to Amman not to allow Palestinians to spend the night in the mosque, given the security tensions at the time.
The source also said that “in response to this, officials from eastern Jerusalem previously turned to the Saudis so that they would act as a counterweight to Turkey, which is operating in the Old City and rising in influence among Jerusalem Arabs.”
The Israel-Turkey diplomatic thaw is paving the way for the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) to resume its efforts to undermine Israeli sovereignty in eastern Jerusalem and boost Turkish influence in the city.
The Saudis are seeking American security guarantees regarding Iran and advanced weapons and US assistance to develop a civilian nuclear program.
According to the Gulf sources, the Saudis are also conditioning normalization with progress on the Palestinian-Israel front.
Control of the Temple Mount in Prophecy
The prophetic confrontation between Saudi Arabia and the Turkey/Ottoman control
of the Temple Mount has repercussions that will continue to play out until it comes to a flaming end near the mid-point of the Tribulation when the Caliphate destroys ‘Mystery Babylon’ in one hour (Rev. 17-18).
Turkey’s position as the former head of the Caliphate for 500 years, which is also echoed across much of Islam, is that the House of Saud is an interloper who illegally grabbed control of Islam and their holy sites after Exxon discovered commercial quantities of oil there in 1938, 20 years after the break up of the Ottoman Empire. This battle of the two Sunni heavyweights will heat up if a Saudi-Israel peace deal becomes reality.