The new regional arrangement that Donald Trump is trying to organize for the Middle East, headlined by normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, should include one of the most sensitive and volatile sites in Jewish-Muslim relations: the Temple Mount. The most well-known secret on the Mount in recent years has been the Jewish prayers that have been taking place there for about seven years. These are quiet prayers, conducted in groups, without prayer shawls, phylacteries, or Torah scrolls – with the approval of the police and the last four ministers of national security. Prime Ministers Benjamin Netanyahu, Naftali Bennett, and Yair Lapid came to terms with them, despite formally denying their existence.
Trump's return to the White House provides an opportunity to bring these prayers out of the shadows and into the healing sunlight. They are conducted at the holiest site in Judaism, which ranks only third in sanctity for Islam. Even the Jordanians, who issue angry responses on the matter every few months, do so mainly to fulfill their obligation to the internal opposition to the Hashemite regime (Palestinians and the Muslim Brotherhood). Jordan and the Jerusalem Waqf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department have accepted de facto the breaking of the artificial separation principle that existed on Temple Mount for years, between Jewish visits to the Mount, which were permitted, and Jewish prayers there, which were forbidden.
This change in the "status quo," it should be remembered, didn't fall from the sky. It came after a series of revolutions and changes in the "status quo" that the Muslim side implemented on Temple Mount (such as the conversion of three additional mosques and various restrictions on Jewish access). One cannot therefore speak of "violating the status quo" for the simple reason: the reality on Temple Mount is constantly changing. One cannot shout "status quo" only regarding Jewish prayers while bowing one's head to significant changes made there by the Muslim side.
Now, as talks with the Saudis about a new Middle East proceed, and ahead of Trump's meetings with Netanyahu and then with King Abdullah, Israel should seek legitimacy and international recognition for these prayers.
The first Trump administration took a small step in this direction. The Deal of the Century stated that "Jerusalem's holy sites should remain open and available for peaceful worshippers and tourists of all faiths" and that "People of every faith should be permitted to pray on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, in a manner that is fully respectful to their religion."
On the agenda now is again the establishment of a religious administration on Temple Mount, which would include representatives from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Indonesia and possibly other parties. Israel is also meant to be integrated. The Jordanians, who received custodianship of Temple Mount in the 1994 peace agreement with Israel as representatives of the Muslim world, strongly dislike the idea. While this would reduce Jordan's exclusive authority over the site, the US could apply the same leverage that Trump used in the Gaza migration issue, when he emphasized America's substantial support for Jordan. Here and there, the US has enough leverage over the Jordanians.
The administration idea was raised by the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to Jordanian King Hussein about 33 years ago. An almost identical idea was woven into Trump's Deal of the Century a few years ago. Now is the moment to try to incorporate into the understandings taking shape on this matter the Jewish prayers on Temple Mount, which Defense Minister Moshe Dayan during the Six Day War was too quick to give up on. He did this without prior approval, presenting the Israeli government with a fait accompli. Mistakes, even old ones, can sometimes be corrected. Now may be an opportunity to do so.
