Jordan faces an existential choice over the defence of Al-Aqsa

Jordan faces an existential choice over the defence of Al-Aqsa Submitted by Peter Oborne on Fri, 05/29/2026 - 16:41 If King Abdullah II goes to war to protect the holy site, his nation may find it has more allies than Trump and Netanyahu expect King Abdullah II visits the army command in Amman on 8 March 2026 (Jordanian Royal Palace/AFP) Off Muslims have been praying at Al-Aqsa Mosque for around 1,400 years. Israel has had its eyes on the holy site since the state’s creation in 1948, and its leaders have made increasingly aggressive attempts to seize control over the last quarter-century. In September 2000, Ariel Sharon, then Israel’s opposition leader, stormed Al-Aqsa complex with more than 1,000 police officers.