Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
President Israel, Isaac Herzog, drew criticism from Saudi Arabia until Jordan for visiting the Ibrahimi Mosque to celebrate Hanukkah.
AFP reported that Herzog visited the worship complex which Jews call the Cave of the Ancestral Fathers to attend the candlelighting ceremony last Sunday (28/11).
The worship complex has long been a hot spot, especially after an Israeli, Baruch Goldstein, carried out a mass shooting that killed 29 Palestinian Muslims in 1994.
Since then, Israeli authorities have separated the complex into two parts, for Muslims and Jews.
According to the Saudis, Herzog’s visit this time was a “gross violation of the sanctity of the mosque.”
“[Tindakan itu] shows a hostile attitude and provokes the feelings of Muslims around the world,” the Saudi foreign ministry said, as quoted by the state news agency Anatolia.
Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Haitham Abu Al-Foul also considered Herzog’s visit a “violation of international law” and “a move that incites extremism.”
Furthermore, Al-Foul regards Herzog’s visit as “a provocation against the unjustifiable sentiments of Muslims.”
Hebron itself is the largest city on the West Bank. There, live about 1,000 Jews and more than 200,000 Palestinians living under the strict care of the Israeli military.
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