NOVANEWS
Russian envoy presents compromise deal to postpone Jordanian move for six months; dramatic turn comes on same day that new Jordanian and Egyptian ambassadors present their credentials to President Shimon Peres.
Haaretz
Diplomatic contacts within UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, took a surprising turn on Wednesday concerning Jordan’s resolution to condemn Israel over its activities on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.
The attempt to put forward a resolution came against the backdrop of an explosive dispute between Israel and Jordan over the Moghrabi bridge, which leads from the Western Wall plaza onto the mount.
Over the past two years, there have been intensive contacts between Israel and Jordan over renovations to the bridge. Cabinet secretary Zvi Hauser had reached an agreement with senior officials of the monarchy, but Jordan reneged several times.
The Jordanians broke up the dialogue, contending that Israel had violated the agreement.
At the meeting in Paris on Wednesday, the Russian ambassador to the organization presented a compromise, wherein the resolution – as well as four other condemnations promoted by the Palestinian Authority and Syria – would be postponed for six months.
Recently, following the breakup of contacts on the issue, the Jordanians garnered support from other Arab members of UNESCO for a draft resolution condemning Israel in the strongest terms for allowing Jews to pray on the Temple Mount, in addition to condemning Israeli activity in the area of the Mograbi bridge.
The resolution also aimed to condemn Israel for trying to change the character of Jerusalem and for conducting archaeological digs in the Old City without coordination with Jordan.
Over the past 24 hours, Israel’s ambassador to UNESCO, Nimrod Barkan, held intensive contacts with representatives of European countries in an effort to get them to apply pressure on the Jordanians. As evidence of the fact that the Jordanian arguments are baseless, Barkan provided them with an article that appeared Tuesday in Haaretz by right-wing activist Karni Eldad in which she attacked the government for not allowing Jews to pray on the Temple Mount.
Barkan stressed that it is unacceptable for every UNESCO summit to concentrate solely on Israel, in effect politicizing an organization that is supposed to deal with education, culture and science.
Initially, the Russian ambassador did not commit to the vote, but in recent hours she presented the compromise deal.
According to the diplomat, the Russian initiative came as a complete surprise to the Jordanians, the Palestinians and other Arab nations. During a vote held on Wednesday, 28 countries supported the Russian initiative while 23 countries opposed. Among those opposed were mainly Arab and African nations, as well as France – the only EU state to oppose.
“The Russian ambassador is a very serious woman and has presented the initiative in order to save UNESCO from a dangerous politicization,” he said. “Many countries understood that these anti-Israeli resolutions are exaggerated, and as evidence, even Brazil was against the suspension. This is a big achievement for Israel.”
This morning, in the midst of the contacts in Paris, the new Jordanian ambassador to Israel, Walid Obeidat, arrived at the President’s residence in Jerusalem and presented his credentials to President Shimon Peres, after a two-year hiatus during which Jordan had no ambassador here.
At the ceremony, the Jordanian ambassador made reference to the situation in Jerusalem, saying that his country was seeking to continue to ensure equality of freedom of worship in the city for all nations and religions.
