Why Jordan cannot be stripped of Al-Aqsa custodianship Submitted by Mustafa Abu Sway on Thu, 05/28/2026 - 15:55 Tampering with the Hashemite status quo at Jerusalem's holy sites would put the region and the world on a collision course The author is pictured with Father Nabil Haddad at the Royal Hashemite Court in Amman, Jordan, in December 2025 (Supplied photo) Off Despite Washington’s long-standing recognition of Jordan as the custodian of Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, including Al-Aqsa Mosque, Middle East Eye has reported that the US and Israel are “actively working” to dismantle this arrangement. The failure of the war on Iran to achieve its goals, the upcoming US midterms this fall, and the Israeli legislative elections slated for October - which could take place even earlier if the coalition government falls - might be driving American and Israeli leaders to look for other “achievements”. US President Donald Trump recently dangled another red herring, threatening not to sign a deal with Iran if Saudi Arabia and other countries do not join the Abraham Accords.  Trump knows this is a no-go; it ignores the elephant in the room, addressed by the 2002 Saudi-led Arab Peace Initiative, which conditioned normalisation with Israel on a credible path to Palestinian statehood.