Pictured Above: The Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount. Credit: Andrew Shiva via Wikimedia Commons.

(JNS.org) Israel decided Monday to remove the metal detectors at the Temple Mount, which had been installed following the recent terror attack that killed two Israeli policemen near the holy site, in favor of “security measures based on advanced technologies.”

After Palestinian-incited riots and terror attacks that came in response to Israel’s Temple Mount security measures, the Israeli security cabinet announced it accepted a recommendation by security agencies to incorporate “smart checks” and other security measures instead of metal detectors “in order to ensure the security of visitors and worshippers in the Old City and on the Temple Mount.”

“Until the implementation of the plan, the Israel Police will reinforce its units and carry out additional actions as necessary in order to ensure the security of visitors on the Mount,” the security cabinet said in a statement, adding that Israel has allocated a budget of up to $28 million to implement the plan during a timeframe of up to six months.

The violence that followed Israel’s installation of the metal detectors included a Palestinian terrorist’s fatal stabbing of three members of an Israeli family—Yosef, Chaya and Elad Salomon—in the Samaria community of Halamish last Friday night.

Jubilant Muslim worshippers arrived near the Lions’ Gate entrance to the Temple Mount Tuesday morning to celebrate the removal of the metal detectors. Despite the apparent victory for the worshippers, clashes broke out and the Israel Police was forced to implement crowd control measures. The crowds indicated they would not end their protests until it was clear that all security cameras had been completely dismantled. 

The Jordanian-run Islamic Waqf, which administers the Temple Mount, convened Tuesday to determine how to proceed in light of the change in Israel’s security procedures and advised worshippers to uphold a boycott of the Temple Mount pending an evaluation of the new arrangements.

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