Israeli Cabinet confers amid spiraling violence
JERUSALEM — Israel’s security Cabinet met Sunday to review a decision to install metal detectors at a contested Jerusalem holy site, after a week of escalating tensions with the Muslim world, mass prayer protests and IsraeliPalestinian violence.
The ministers met amid mounting controversy at home, with some critics saying the government had acted without sufficiently considering the repercussions of introducing new security measures at the Holy Land’s most sensitive shrine and the epicenter of the IsraeliPalestinian conflict.
The metal detectors were installed a week ago, in response to an attack by Arab gunmen there who killed two Israeli police officers. Muslim religious leaders alleged Israel was trying to expand its control at the compound under the guise of security, a claim Israel denied.
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, an outspoken supporter of the security measures, on Sunday for the first time raised the possibility that the metal detectors might be removed, provided an alternative is found. He said security measures at the 37acre esplanade, with eight entry gates for Muslim worshipers, were insufficient before the shooting attack.
“We need different security measures and means for checking (those entering) there,” he told Israel TV’s Channel 2.
On Sunday, Israel set up new security cameras at the entrance to the site.
Muslim leaders signaled Sunday that they would reject any new proposal that leaves additional security measures in place.
The top Muslim cleric of Jerusalem, Mohammed Hussein, told Voice of Palestine radio that he demands a complete return to the security measures before the shooting attack.
In a statement Sunday, the Islamic institutions in Jerusalem, of which he is a part, said they “affirm the categorical rejection of the electronic gates and all the measures of occupation.”