Some two dozen members of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan were arrested ten days ago in connection with accusations of smuggling arms and money into Judea and Samaria.

According to an article published Monday by the Jordanian Al-Hayat newspaper, the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood was also charged with creating a secret armed organization.

Two members were also accused of carrying out training in Gaza — and attempting to train operatives to carry out attacks in Judea and Samaria.

Sources in Jordan, meanwhile, revealed that the name of Turkey-based high-ranking Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri continues to reappear during investigations of the terror-related activities. Al-Arouri’s name has come up several times over the past year, most prominently in connection with the abduction and murder of three yeshiva teens in Gush Etzion by Hamas terrorists in June this past summer.

Al-Arouri’s name also came up during the questioning of the current Muslim Brotherhood suspects in connection with their activities. Al-Arouri, however, has stated that Hamas – which was founded by the Muslim Brotherhood – does not operate in Jordan at a military level. A report by the Aljazeera news network confirmed that 25 members of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan were arrested after several were caught red-handed trying to smuggle weapons in the Palestinina Authority

The Jordanian officer involved in the case noted in his report that it appears two of the suspects had been trained for their roles in Gaza.

The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) revealed Thursday it has exposed a huge terrorist network that was aided by terrorists and commanders operating from Jordan, Syria and Turkey as well as within Judea and Samaria.

One of their targets was Jerusalem’s Teddy stadium, home of the Betar soccer team.

They also were planned to use a car bomb and had drawn up plans for a mass casually attack on the Jerusalem light rail system, coordinated roadside bombs and shooting attacks with M-16 semi-automatic rifles, and infiltrations, murders and kidnappings in Jewish communities throughout Judea and Samaria.

The gag order on the arrests of more than 30 terrorists two months ago was lifted today. A large quantity of weapons and ammunition also were found.

At least two of those arrested are Jordanians who previously were soldiers for the kingdom, drafted by Hamas in 2010 and sent to Turkey and Gaza for training, entering the Hamas territory through smuggling tunnels from Egypt.

The command post from Turkey further shows how Hamas has been provided a deadly safe haven by Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The cells had carried out two explosions in Samaria last August, but no one was injured. The terrorists set off the bombs using a timer so that the explosions would occur when security forces were on the scene. One of the bombs went off at the Rehalim junction.

The explosions were carried out under instructions from Hamas commanders in Gaza, Jordan, Syria and Turkey. Investigations by the IDF and Shin Bet helped them track down the extensive terrorist network.

Among those arrested were two from Jordan, Manaf Mohammed Angvera, 28; and Abdallah Mahmoud Zitawi, 25, Jordan;

Kuwait native Mahmoud Airbajie, 25, who learned in Jordan; two Arabs from Tulkarem, east of Netanya, Rjyie Ahmed Amuri, 30; Adnan Samara, 30; Mutzav Ruwib, 23, from Bethlehem; and Tzuhiv Rabat, 29, from the Jordan Valley.

Israeli Ambassador to Jordan, Daniel Nevo, filed an official complaint to Jordan’ Foreign Ministry over the letter of condolence that Jordan’s Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour sent to the families of the terrorists from the Har Nof Massacre. Those terrorists killed 5 people in a Har Nof synagogue during prayers.

The Jordanian parliament also held a moment of silence for the Arab terrorists who were killed in their terror attack.

In addition, Nevo delivered a compilation of antisemitic cartoon that have been recently published in Jordanian media, inciting even more antisemitism.

Last week, Jewish visitors to Jordan were told by Jordanian tourist police that their Kipas are forbidden in Jordan “for their own safety” and the yarmulkes were confiscated.

For at least the past year, Jordan does not allow Jews to bring Tefillin into Jordan with them, which are worn during morning prayers.

Religious Jews have been complaining that Jordanian officials at the border crossing purposely target religious Jews for harassment.

In Israel, some people are beginning to question the value of a peace treaty with a weak, undemocratic and openly antisemitic kingdom like Jordan’s.

Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour sent letters of condolence to the families of the two terrorists who committed the Har Nof Massacre, killing 5 people, and leaving behind dozens of orphans.

This is in followup to the prayers and moment of silence that the Jordanian Parliament held in honor of the two terrorists.

With peace partners like Jordan, who needs enemies?

An estimated 80% of the population of Jordan identify themselves as “Palestinians”, which would make Jordan the Palestinian state, except for minor problem of the Hussein monarchy which is in the way of the majority.

The “status quo” on the Temple Mount gives the right to all non-Muslims to visit – but not pray – on the Temple Mount, but “radical Muslims are trying to change the situation, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s spokesman told The Jewish Press Friday.

All parties – the United States, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Israel – have been tossing around the term “status quo” but not all of them mean the same thing.

The true status quo, as per the Jordanian-Israel peace pact, allows Jews on Temple Mount. Prayer is not specifically prohibited, but except for very few unauthorized prayer gatherings, the status quo has excluded Jews from praying there on a regular basis since the Six-Day War in 1967 restored the Old City to the country after 2,000 years.

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas was noticeably absent in Thursday night’s meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nassar Judeh.

Also noticeably absent was a statement from the Prime Minister.

Kerry and his Jordanian counterpart did all the taking.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu strongly reaffirmed Israel’s commitment to uphold the status quo on the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount and to implement these steps. And King Abdullah also agreed to continue to take affirmative steps to restore calm and implement practical measures to prevent further escalation of tensions. And obviously, the proof is not in the words; the proof is in the actions,” said Kerry.

Judeh said,:

His Majesty, during his meeting with Mr. Kerry this afternoon, explained Jordan’s position and the stance regarding the necessity of maintaining the status quo of the Holy Shrines, and they should not be touched or affected by any means. And this is part of the Hashemite custody of these Christian and Muslim sanctities in Jerusalem.

And here is what Abbas had to say this week:

Keep the settlers and the extremists away from Al-Aqsa and our holy places. We will not allow our holy places to be contaminated. Keep them away from us and we will stay away from them, but if they enter al-Aqsa, [we] will protect al-Aqsa and the church [???] and the entire country.

Status quo, anyone?

Netanyahu told the Federations of North American in a video speech this week, “President Abbas himself called on Palestinians to prevent Jews from entering the Temple Mount. He used the words: ‘by any means possible.’

“See, this – the Temple Mount, the holiest place in Judaism, where Jews have visited peacefully for years – President Abbas says we should not set foot there. That’s changing the status quo.”

Presumably, Kerry understood last night in his talk with Netanyahu that “status quo” means Jews can visit the Temple Mount.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said last night that everyone must use “restraint” and act responsibly.

But what about Public Security Minister Aharonovitch’s warning this week that Jewish Knesset Members will not be allowed on the Temple Mount if it might set off Arab blood pressure? Are MKs not part of the “status quo?”

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who perhaps is worried Jewish MKs visiting the Temple Mount  might win some votes besides upsetting the Arabs, has flatly stated they should stay away.

Mark Regev, the spokesman for the Prime Minister, did not directly respond to the question. He told The Jewish Press, “The goal is to goal is to make sure the holy site are respected and there is safe and peaceful behavior.”

The status quo of allowing Jews to visit, but not pray, on the Temple Mount was respected until the intifada in the late 1980s.

The Palestinian Authority, through violence is trying to change the definition of the term, and that might be one reason Abbas was not in the official conversations between Netanyahu, Kerry and Jordanian officials.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Tuesday, the 10th anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat, that Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas is even worse than his predecessor.

“There is no difference between Arafat and Abu Mazen [Abbas],” he said. “Both of them hate Jews and believe in terror. The only difference is that Abu Mazen is more dangerous because he knows much better how to mask his true face.”

Lieberman put on the finishing touches Wednesday morning when he told Israel that Abbas also is worse than Hamas.

Abbas said in his speech on Tuesday commemorating Arafat that Israel is “contaminating” the Temple Mount. He even had the chutzpah to declare that Christians would never recognize eastern Jerusalem as part of the capital of Jerusalem.

International media have published so much propaganda against Israel that they have virtually erased from history the era of the Jordanian occupation, when Christians, as well as Jews, were barred from all holy sites under Jordanian rule.

Abbas’ outright incitement in his speech included praise for Muslim “heroes” at the Temple Mount who “have the right to defend themselves,” referring to Jews who “attack” by setting foot on the holy site, where they are barred from praying by the Muslim authority.

Abbas apparently fears that Jews might have prayers in mind, and that certainly is dangerous to Allah.

His incendiary speech fired up Lieberman, who is not a fan of Jews parading to the Temple Mount but who also is not too big on diplomatic charades.

He tore into Abbas Wednesday morning and said that he is an “illegitimate” leader of the Palestinian Authority because he has stayed in office for five years beyond the date for new elections.

Abbas “does not respect agreements and does not want peace but instead promotes terror.” He added, “His incitement is more dangerous than that of Hamas.”

Lieberman reiterated his previous suggestion that riot-plagued areas of Israel, such as the Triangle region between Netanya and Kfar Sava, and the Wadi Ara area around the Arab city of Umm el-Fahm to the north, could be part of a new Arab country.

“Once everything is made clear, the rioters certainly would be happy to live in a Palestinian state where they can enjoy freedom of speech, democracy, welfare assistance and unemployment insurance,” Lieberman said with enough bitter sarcasm that could turn honey into sour milk.

So is Abbas really worse than Arafat?

With all due apologies for throwing in a contradictory comparison with the Biblical Noach, the only difference between them is a generation.

The Torah cites Noach as a righteous mean, and Torah sages point out that he was a righteous man for his generation but certainly could not be compared with Abraham, ten generations later. However, each one was righteous in his generation.

Arafat terrorized Israel when ISIS did not exist, when even some Israelis on the center-right believed there could be some kind of compromise with the Palestinian Authority, and when the world had not yet realized that it was on the eve of a radical Islamic revolution and an Iran that seeks nuclear weapons to threaten the world with an Islamic universe or nuclear destruction.

Arafat was a terrorist when terrorism was appreciated by the world so long as it only killed Jews in Israel. He got away with wearing a pistol on his hip while talking about peace. He managed to turn the Nobel Peace prize into a mockery of truth.

Arafat set the stage for Abbas to put on a suit and tie, travel around the world to build up support for a “peace plan” that was a con game to set up Israel for destruction as a Jewish state.

An Israeli civil rights group has filed a complaint in the International Criminal Court against Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas for war crimes in the Gaza war against Israel.

The Shurat HaDin (Israel Law Center) group said that Abbas can be tried in the court in Hague because he has Jordanian citizenship.

The Palestinian Authority is not as member of the ICC, but Abbas has threatened he will apply for membership. If the PA is accepted, he could file war crime suits against Israel.

“Shurat HaDin will not allow Fatah to carry out rocket attacks on Israeli population centers, while hypocritically advocating Palestinian membership in the ICC, said Shurat HaDin director Nitsana Darshan Leitner. “Abbas falsely believes that alleged crimes against Arabs are the only ones that should be prosecuted,” she added.

Darshan-Leitner argued that Abbas, as head of the Fatah movement, “is liable for Fatah’s rocket attacks on Israeli cities during this past summer’s Gaza war.”

Fatah boasted that it launched missiles towards numerous Israeli communities, including Ashkelon, Sderot, Netivot and kibbutzim in the Gaza Belt area.

Darshan-Leitner explained that Abbas’ Jordanian citizenship circumvents the previous obstacle to the ICC chief prosecutor’s argument that the court did not open an investigation into war cries in the war because neither Israel or the Palestinian Authority is a member of the ICC.

“Abbas is a Jordanian citizen and Jordan is a current member of the ICC,” she said, “The ICC is empowered to exercise its jurisdiction over all acts committed by the citizen of a member, wherever those acts are committed.”

The complaint notes Jordan has never prosecuted any Palestinian citizen for terrorism and it “has no means of obtaining custody of Mahmoud Abbas,” who lives in Ramallah under PA protection.

In September, Shurat HaDin filed an ICC complaint against Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, who also possesses Jordanian citizenship, for Hamas’s extra-judicial execution of 39 Palestinian civilians in Gaza.