The tension about the Temple Mount is steadily rising with every passing day. Last night, the White House stated: “The United States is very worried about the tensions aroused at the Temple Mount which is holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians and we call to Israel and Jordan to make efforts to minimize the tensions and to find a solution that will protect the status quo and insure public safety. The United States will continue to follow developments closely.”
According to the London based Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, The US is seeking a compromise in which the magnetic gates will be removed and Israeli security will check people very carefully. The source for this information is senior Palestinians who say they agree that suspects should be checked but disagree about a scenario where security is checking everyone entering the Temple Mount.
The dispute will intensify tomorrow as there will be a massive Muslim protest. The Wakf announced that all Jerusalem mosques will be closed tomorrow in order to draw crowds to the Temple Mount for prayers at the gates and increase the chance of after prayer riots, (sounds like a soccer game).
The Wakf hopes to see a large amount of Arabs from the North and South coming for these prayers on Friday. Israeli security on the other hand advises holding back the Arabs from the Galilee the South and the ‘triangle region’.
In their attempts to find a solution that is satisfactory to all sides Israelis, Americans and Jordanians are seeking a temporary solution where the magnetic gates are removed and security personnel will check suspects with hand held metal detectors. This compromise will allow for selective checking like that which is found in the Ben Gurion Airport.
The other choice is that the magnetic gates won’t be removed but only select people will be asked to walk through them. It is not clear that this compromise is acceptable to the Wakf.