Tension surrounding Jerusalem’s Temple Mount continues to run high, even after Israel’s decision to remove security measures that it installed at the site, including metal detectors, cameras and steel barriers; that after two Israeli policemen were killed by Arab Islamists whom entered the antient compound armed with concealed weapons. Israel’s decision to install security infrastructure at the entrance to the Temple Mount provoked days of unrest, with violent clashes on the streets of East Jerusalem, the West Bank as well as in neighboring Arab countries. The days of unrest reached its lowest point on July 21st, when a Palestinian terrorist stabbed to death three Israelis, all members of the same family, in the West Bank settlement of Neve Tsuf. The growing concern of the deteriorating situation prompted a decision by Israel’s government to remove the security barriers installed, a move vocally condemned by the Israeli public as spineless. In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced understanding of the public’s dismay, yet emphasized that the move was a calculated decision. “I am attentive to public sentiment, I understand the feelings. I know that the decision that we took was not an easy one, saying that, as the Prime Minister of Israel, the one that carries the responsibility for Israel’s security on his soldiers, I must make the decisions coldheartedly and judiciously,” the prime minister declared. That said, Netanyahu noted that additional forces are mobilized in and around Jerusalem’s old city, to thwart any terror attacks or disturbances of the peace. The Israeli leader also took the opportunity to warn Israel’s enemies that Jerusalem was well prepared to act with full force against any attempt to harm the country’s citizens. “In recent days I instructed to reinforce the security forces, in the Temple Mount and the Old City, in order to prevent terror attacks and disturbances of the peace, and to operate vigorously against outlaws. In order to accomplish this mission, we made available to the police significant reinforcement of as many Border Police battalions as necessary. I instructed to allocate, with the approval of the cabinet, a budget of up to 100 million shekels for the development and purchase of technological equipment, in order to create solutions that will increase security,” Netanyahu noted.
Israel’s removal of the metal detectors from the entrance to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, in a bid to alleviate the tension, was condemned by the Palestinian leadership and neighboring Arab countries as insufficient, with rhetoric heard from around the Muslim world accusing the Jewish state of unlawfully occupying the antient compound, which is viewed by Sunni Muslims as the third holiest site in Islam, while ignoring the fact that the historic compound is revered as the holiest site for Jews. During a meeting of the Arab League in Egypt’s capital, Cairo, the League’s Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit declared Jerusalem as a “red line” that the Muslim world will not allow anyone to cross it. “Jerusalem is a red line, we will not allow anyone, no matter who, to pass it. We do not accept that the reality of the refused current occupation, by ourselves and the whole world and introduction to change the situation in this holy place,” Aboul Gheit emphasized.
While most Arab states voiced condemning rhetoric against the Jewish state, which they view as an illegal occupier of Muslim lands; Egypt voiced a more optimistic approach, hoping to see a relative calm persist, while urging Israel to refrain from any actions that could once again deteriorate the sensitive situation.
Meanwhile in Turkey;
Thousands of people rallied in the city of Istanbul over the weekend, in protest of what they claimed were Israeli violations in Jerusalem, and in support of the Palestinian people. The rally, which was organized by Turkey’s Saadet party and was called “The Big Jerusalem Meeting” saw thousands of Turks waving Turkish and Palestinian flags, as well as banners reading “down with the USA and Israel.” Turkey was one of the most vocal countries in the region against Israel’s security measures in Jerusalem, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warning Israel that it would suffer most from the dispute.