ISRAEL EMBASSY SHOOTING IN JORDAN COMPLICATES TEMPLE MOUNT CRISIS:

 A deadly shooting at Israel’s Embassy in Jordan further complicated Israeli government efforts on Mon. 24 July 2017 to find a way out of an escalating crisis over a major Jerusalem shrine, including mass Muslim prayer protests and Israeli-Palestinian violence. The shooting, in which an Israeli security guard killed two Jordanians after being attacked by one of them with a screwdriver, led to a diplomatic standoff between the two countries at a time when Jordan is heavily involved in efforts to defuse the crisis over the Jerusalem holy site. Jordan is the Muslim custodian of the shrine, which is the holiest site of Judaism, revered as the place where biblical Temples once stood. The 37-acre walled compound is the third holiest site of Islam, after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. Following diplomatic tensions between the two countries and Jordan’s refusal to release Israel’s diplomatic staff from the Amman embassy, including the guard who killed the Jordanians, they were allowed to return to Israel late Mon. night, 25 July 2017. (Washington Times/J.Post)