Metal detectors outside the Temple Mount
Photo: Israel Police
COGAT: Israel willing to examine alternatives for metal detectors
Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai says Israel doesn't want to change the status quo on the Temple Mount; 'The only thing we want is to ensure no one can enter with weapons again and carry out another attack.'
Israel is willing to examine alternatives to the metal detectors set up at the entrances to the Temple Mount, after a week of clashes by Muslim worshipers protesting the decision and a deadly terror attack that claimed the lives of three Israelis.
"We're willing to examine alternatives to the metal detectors as long as the solution of alternative ensures the prevention of the next attack," the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, said Saturday.
Mordechai also told Ynet that he was "willing for another solution if it restores security."
Metal detectors at the entrance to the Temple Mount (Photo: EPA)
He clarified that "Israel doesn't want to change the status quo, this is a clear message to the Muslim world from the Israeli government. We don't want to change the political or religious status quo, nor the situation on the ground. The only thing we want is to ensure no one can enter with weapons again and carry out another attack."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been receiving updates on the situation throughout the day, including IDF operations in the West Bank in general and the terrorist's village of Kobar in particular.
The prime minister will hold a security discussion on Sunday, while on Saturday he will hold phone consultations and situation assessment.
The Jerusalem shrine at the center of the clashes is known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, and to Jews as the Temple Mount.
The metal detectors, as well as additional security cameras, were set up at the gates to the holy site after another deadly terror attack the week before, when three Israeli Arab terrorists came out of the Temple Mount complex and opened fire at Israeli police officers, killing two.
Muslims alleged Israel was trying to expand its control at the Muslim-administered site under the guise of security—a claim Israel denies—and launched mass prayer protests.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
