The US and Israel are "actively working" to strip Jordan of its historic custodianship of Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, and are pursuing a new arrangement that would see the management of the revered Muslim site closely align with Israeli interests, multiple sources have told Middle East Eye.
US, Jordanian and Palestinian officials, as well as western and Gulf Arab sources, told MEE that under the plan, championed by President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has no official role in the administration, and the US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, the authority of the Jordanian-backed Islamic Waqf would abruptly end and a new body created by the Israeli government would declare the Al-Aqsa Mosque a "multi-faith centre".
According to the officials, all of whom requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, the "new arrangement" would grant Jews "equal access" to the Muslim site and formally allow large-group Jewish prayer.
Israel would also have a major say over the appointment of imams, preachers and senior mosque officials, and would also be involved in signing off on the content mentioned in Friday sermons.
Two US officials told MEE that Washington had drafted a paper on how they envisaged the mosque's future. The officials said that the Trump administration would like to see the Al-Aqsa Mosque stripped of its Muslim identity, with the site turned into a landmark tourist attraction that hosts all three Abrahamic religions.
A western official, and a source briefed by the Jordanian government, told MEE that, according to a proposal they had seen, Arab countries could be granted "rotational" oversight of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex.
They said that Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had all been briefed on the US proposal.
According to two Gulf Arab sources and another source familiar with the Jordanian government's thinking, Saudi Arabia, which shares a deep history and a robust alliance with Jordan, was against the proposal.
'The Hashemite Custodianship is a cornerstone for stability in the region, undermining it is tantamount to undermining the very principles for peace'
The sources said that Israel had first floated the idea with the Trump administration nearly a decade ago, but shortly after Huckabee assumed his post as US ambassador last year, he "repeatedly" called on Washington to follow through with the plan.
The US envoy, a devout Evangelical Christian and former talk show host, is a long-time pro-Israel advocate who has staunchly supported illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The source familiar with Amman's thinking told MEE that "the Americans have been angry that the Jordanians cite their custodianship and raise complaints about Israeli actions at Al-Aqsa".
Just this month, Jordan's parliament condemned Israeli measures to seize Palestinian properties and Islamic endowments in an area adjacent to Al-Aqsa Mosque.
All of the sources MEE spoke with said the new proposal left the fate of Jerusalem's Christian holy sites unknown.
The Hashemite monarchy is also custodian of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Church of the Ascension. Jordan also has an effective veto over the appointment of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem.
"This plan says nothing about the Christian sites, which raises a whole new set of concerns," one of the sources said.
A Jordanian government official stressed that Amman's position on Jerusalem and its holy sites "remains firm" and said the Hashemite custodianship is internationally recognised under treaties and agreements, including Article 9 of the 1994 Jordan-Israel peace treaty.
The official added that Jordan was coordinating with Palestinian, Arab and international partners to preserve the sites' "Arab, Islamic and Christian identity" and prevent any alteration to the historical and legal status quo.
Al-Aqsa Mosque has been governed under a decades-long status quo, or international arrangement, preserving its religious status as an exclusively Islamic site.
Under arrangements reached after the 1967 war, Jordan and Israel agreed that the Islamic Waqf would administer internal affairs at the compound, while Israel would control external security.
