The United States and Israel are actively working to remove Jordan’s historic custodianship of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, according to multiple American, Jordanian, and Palestinian officials who spoke to Middle East Eye. The reported plan, which a US official has since denied, would end the authority of the Jordanian-backed Islamic Waqf over the compound and install a new body aligned with Israeli interests. The development has drawn immediate condemnation from Jordanian and Palestinian officials and raised questions about regional stability across the Arab world.
Under the plan, as described to Middle East Eye by sources who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, 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 hosting all three Abrahamic religions.
The arrangement, championed by President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who holds no official role in the administration, and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, would grant Jews “equal access” to the Muslim site and formally allow large-group Jewish prayer. Israel would also gain a decisive say over the appointment of imams and senior mosque officials and would be involved in approving the content of Friday sermons, according to the same sources.
A western official and a source briefed by the Jordanian government told Middle East Eye that, according to a proposal they had seen, Arab countries could be granted “rotational” oversight of the compound. Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates had all been briefed on the US proposal.
Following the initial publication of Middle East Eye’s report on May 25, a US official issued a terse statement calling the report “totally false.” The White House did not provide a detailed rebuttal.
Jordanian officials rejected any suggestion of a change to the existing arrangement. 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.
Mustafa Abu Sway, the deputy head of the Waqf council, said Palestinians viewed the custodianship “strategically as a lifeline.” He said: “The Hashemite Custodianship is a cornerstone for stability in the region, undermining it is tantamount to undermining the very principles for peace.”
The Jerusalem Governorate said it had not been informed of any such proposal but said it “reject[s] it entirely,” adding there had been a “dangerous escalation” in Israeli interference in the Waqf’s work, including restrictions on guards and staff and increasing settler incursions into the complex.
The reported plan appears modelled on arrangements Israel imposed at another contested holy site. Jordanian and Palestinian officials said the proposed arrangement appeared to be loosely modelled on Israel’s policies at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, where restrictions imposed after a 1994 massacre by an Israeli settler eventually led to a formal division of the site — with Israel allocating 63 percent for Jewish worship and 37 percent for Muslims.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has repeatedly entered Al-Aqsa in defiance of the longstanding status quo. In April 2026, he declared: “I feel like the owner here.” Ben Gvir’s visits have drawn condemnation from Jordan and the Palestinian Authority and were cited by Israeli critics as a driver of escalating tensions at the site.
Waqf officials have told Middle East Eye that mosque workers cannot repaint their offices or mend a water pipe without Israeli permission, and that Israeli security forces maintain a police station at the centre of the compound.
Regional and Global Impact
Saudi Arabia, which shares a deep history and a robust alliance with Jordan, was against the proposal, according to two Gulf Arab sources and another source familiar with Jordanian government thinking. One of those sources told Middle East Eye that Riyadh “fully understands that if any moves are taken against the Hashemite custodianship, then that would inflame the entire region.”
A second Gulf Arab source said Saudi Arabia viewed the custodianship as “a pillar of regional stability,” adding that while Riyadh may have disagreements with Jordan on other issues, “on Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa they understand the consequences of dismantling the existing arrangement.”
The UAE and Bahrain’s position is less certain. Since signing the Abraham Accords in 2020, both countries have steadily deepened political, economic and security ties with Israel. Emirati-linked religious and diplomatic initiatives have promoted the idea of “multi-faith coexistence” in ways that Palestinian and Jordanian officials fear could be used to legitimise changes to the historical status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque.
One Gulf Arab source told Middle East Eye that the UAE and Bahrain “should be cautious about publicly supporting changes to the status quo,” given how explosive the issue is across the Arab and Muslim world.
All sources who spoke to Middle East Eye said the new proposal left the fate of Jerusalem’s Christian holy sites unknown. The Hashemite monarchy also holds custodianship over the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Church of the Ascension, and Jordan holds an effective veto over the appointment of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem.
Commentator Peter Oborne, writing in Middle East Eye on May 29, noted that the plan forces King Abdullah II into a direct choice between acquiescence and active resistance, and warned that a decision to defend Al-Aqsa militarily could draw fighters from Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and beyond into a protracted conflict along Jordan’s 400-kilometre border with Israel.
Background
Al-Aqsa Mosque has been governed under a decades-long status quo 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. Non-Muslims are permitted to visit the site during designated hours but are not allowed to pray there.
Jordan’s ruling family traces its custodianship over Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem to 1924, when Palestine was under British Mandate rule. The Hashemites were granted custodianship in Jerusalem after losing control of Islam’s two holiest cities, Mecca and Medina, to the Al Saud family. Jordan’s role as custodian was formally recognised in its 1994 peace treaty with Israel, which acknowledged Amman’s “special role” in Jerusalem’s Islamic holy sites.
The sources told Middle East Eye that Israel first floated the idea of changing the custodianship arrangements with the Trump administration nearly a decade ago, but that Ambassador Huckabee “repeatedly” called on Washington to follow through with the plan after assuming his post last year.
What Happens Next
Two Gulf Arab sources told Middle East Eye that Jordan’s government was likely to rely on regional backing — particularly from Saudi Arabia — to counter the US-Israeli proposal. Jordan’s parliament has already formally condemned Israeli measures to seize Palestinian properties in areas adjacent to Al-Aqsa, signalling that Amman intends to escalate diplomatic opposition. The Jordanian government official confirmed Amman was coordinating with Palestinian, Arab and international partners to preserve the sites’ “Arab, Islamic and Christian identity.” Jordan previously signalled its military red lines to Washington in February 2025, when it warned that it was prepared to declare war on Israel if Palestinians were forcibly expelled into Jordanian territory, according to Middle East Eye’s earlier reporting.
Middle East Eye said it reached out to the Bahraini, Egyptian, Moroccan, Saudi, and UAE foreign ministries for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication.
