Israel seeks metal detector alternative to end crisis

Israel’s security cabinet met for a second day Monday to try to defuse an escalating crisis with the Muslim world and find an alternative to metal detectors that had been installed a week earlier at a contested Jerusalem shrine amid widespread protests.

Ministers were being asked to consider the installation of sophisticated, high-resolution cameras and increased police deployments as a replacement for the metal detectors, Israeli media said.

The cameras would be installed in Jerusalem’s Old City where the shrine, revered by Muslims and Jews, is located.

Meanwhile, a diplomatic standoff with Jordan, over a deadly shooting at the Israeli embassy in the kingdom, added another complication — but also a new opening to end the showdown over the Jerusalem holy site.

At issue is the fate of an Israeli embassy guard who killed two Jordanians after being attacked by one of them with a screwdriver. Jordan said he can only leave the country after an investigation. Israel said he has diplomatic immunity.

Jordan is also heavily involved in efforts to defuse the crisis at the Jerusalem holy site. Israeli media said an emerging deal could see the guard freed in exchange for the removal of the metal detectors.

The head of Israel’s domestic Shin Bet security agency met with officials in Jordan on Monday to resolve the crisis, the worst between the two countries in recent years.

Later Monday, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone. The king stressed the need to “remove the measures taken by the Israeli side since the recent crisis broke out.”