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Thursday, July 20, 2017, 12:00
Israel signals metal detectors to stay at Jerusalem shrine
By Associated Press
Thursday, July 20, 2017, 12:00 By Associated Press

A Palestinian man walks towards a metal detector at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, July 19, 2017. A dispute over metal detectors has escalated into a new showdown between Israel and the Muslim world over the contested Jerusalem shrine that has been at the center of violent confrontations in the past. (Oded Balilty / AP)

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled he's sticking to a decision to install metal detectors at a contested Jerusalem shrine, despite rising tensions and a Muslim call for mass protests in the city.

Netanyahu, who was in Hungary, spoke by phone Wednesday with Israeli security chiefs about the escalation in Jerusalem and was to hold more consultations after his return to Israel on Thursday.

"There is no change regarding the metal detectors," he told reporters in Budapest.

The mass protests are set for Friday, the highlight of the Muslim religious week, when tens of thousands of Muslims typically attend prayers in the walled compound in Jerusalem's Old City.

Ending tensions is in the hands of Israel which he said should immediately reopen the shrine without any hindrances. 

Ayman Safadi, Foreign Minister, Jordan

Meanwhile, several thousand Palestinian Muslims prayed Wednesday evening in the streets near Lion's Gate, one of the entrances to the shrine that was fitted with metal detectors. Such prayers, with the faithful kneeling in orderly lines on the pavement, have been the main form of protest this week, signaling their refusal to pass through the metal detectors, but protesters have also scuffled with police.

Conflicts over the holy site, revered by Muslims and Jews, have repeatedly triggered Israeli-Palestinian confrontations. The site — known as the Temple Mount to Jews and Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, to Muslims — is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The latest escalation began last week when three Palestinian gunmen launched an attack from there, killing two Israeli policemen at a gate to the Muslim-administered compound.

In response, Israel began installing metal detectors, a move Muslim religious leaders and Palestinian politicians allege is part of an Israeli attempt to expand control at the site.

Israel has denied such allegations, saying metal detectors are routine security devices used at holy sites around the world.

Muslim clerics on Wednesday urged the faithful to forego prayers in neighborhood mosques in the city on Friday and converge on the shrine, in an attempt to draw larger crowds. Worshippers were asked to pray in the streets rather than submit to the new security procedures.

Israeli media reported that security chiefs are at odds over the new devices. Israel's Shin Bet security service, which closely monitors Palestinian society, reportedly opposes the metal detectors as counterproductive, while police support the new measures.

Netanyahu said Israel is in close contact with Jordan, the traditional Muslim custodian of the shrine. Netanyahu said Jordan wants to "end this as quietly as possible."

Palestinians carry a model of the Al Aqsa Mosque compound during a protest against the metal detectors placed at the entrance to mosque, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, July 19, 2017. (Mahmoud Illean / AP)

Netanyahu rejected Muslim allegations that Israel is changing long-standing arrangements at the shrine. "It (metal detectors) is only meant to prevent a repeat of an attack with weapons."

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the key to restoring calm is to have Israel respect the "historic and legal status" at the shrine, the state news agency Petra reported.

Safadi told ambassadors from Europe and Asia that ending tensions is in the hands of Israel which he said should immediately reopen the shrine without any hindrances.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who was in China, is returning to the West Bank to deal with the crisis, his office said in a statement.

In the meantime, Abbas is in touch with Arab and international leaders to try to "prevent a deterioration of the situation," it said.

The White House called on Israel and Jordan "to make a good faith effort to reduce tensions and to find a solution that assures public safety and the security of the site and maintains the status quo," according to a statement from the press secretary. It also said the US would closely monitor developments.

After last week's shooting, Israel closed the site for two days for searches. It was only the third closure since Israel captured the shrine, along with east Jerusalem and other territories, in the 1967 Mideast war.

Jews revere the 37-acre raised platform as the site of their biblical temples. It is the holiest site in Judaism and the nearby Western Wall, a remnant of one of the temples, is the holiest place where Jews can pray.

Muslims believe the hilltop marks the spot from which the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. It is Islam's third-holiest site after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

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