The following is via OnlySimchas.com:

Well, it looks like the U.S. State Department is eating its words.

Spokesman John Kirby retracted a comment he made on Wednesday that Israel had violated the status quo on the Har HaBayis – the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

In the briefing on Wednesday, Kirby was asked if visits by Israelis to the Temple Mount were considered as incitement on the part of Israel. In an attempt at looking as if he was not attacking Israel, he stated that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was interested in restoring the status quo on the Temple Mount.

This was a subtle attack, one that was completely off.

Referring to Kerry, Kirby explained, “I’m not going to be able to characterize every single act with terminology. What the secretary has said and stands by is that we want to see the status quo restored, the status quo arrangement there on Haram al-Sharif and the Temple Mount.”

A reporter then asked Kirby whether it was the administration’s view that the status quo had, in fact, been broken at all. Kirby answered, “Well, certainly, the status quo has not been observed, which has led to a lot of the violence.”

After some pressure, Kirby tweeted, “Clarification from today’s briefing: I did not intend to suggest that status quo at Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif has been broken. We welcome both Israel’s & Jordan’s commitment to continued maintenance of status quo at Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif.”

Kirby has not yet issued an apology – if he ever will.

(Source: OnlySimchas.com)