Prime Minister Ariel Sharon plans to reopen the Temple Mount compound to Jewish and non-Muslim visitors "at the first opportunity," Ha'aretz reported on Monday. The diplomatic-security cabinet is slated to discuss the proposal, which is based on a recommendation submitted this week to Sharon by the Israel Security Agency (ISA), commonly known as the Shin Bet.

The Prime Minister's Office has not responded to the media report, and Sharon spokesman Ra'anan Gissin told the Washington Post that "there's no timetable" to reopen the compound to non-Muslims.

The Temple Mount has been closed to non-Muslims

"The reopening will cause a blood bath." - MK Abdel Malik Dehamshe

since September 2000, when then-opposition leader Sharon visited the holy site. Palestinians greeted his visit with riots, which marked the start of sixteen months of violence.

Following the events, the defense establishment, in coordination with Israel's security agencies, prohibited access to Jews and Christians, fearing that their visits would result in additional violent outbursts by the Palestinians, endangering the visitors and requiring heavy security. Accordingly, visits by non-Muslims to the compound since the violence began have been extremely rare.

Provocation or legitimate right?
Reports that Israel was planning to restore the status quo on the Mount aroused widespread alarm among Islamic officials, Arab Knesset members, and leftist Israeli politicians.

"[The reopening] will cause a blood bath," warned MK Abdel Malik Dehamshe (United Arab List). "We all know what happened when Sharon visited there."

The Palestinian-appointed Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Akhram a-Sabri, said yesterday that letting non-Muslims return to the mount would be "provocative." Sabri told the Voice of Palestine that the presence of Jews on the site would escalate violence.

Adnan Husseini, the director of the Waqf, the Muslim religious authority that has administered the site since 1967 under an agreement with Israel, said, "We know how sensitive the area is." It is in everyone's best interest to open up the area to visitors, he added, but that can only happen when Israel changes the overall situation in the region.

Internal Security Minister Uzi Landau has been the leading proponent of reopening the Mount to all visitors. Until now, his efforts were opposed by security officials, Maariv reported. In response to Landau's most recent request, however, the ISA withdrew its opposition to non-Muslim visits and recommended that visits be permitted again, the paper said.

MK Michael Kleiner (Herut), responding to Sharon's suggestion that the Mount be opened to Jewish visitors at said that the "first opportunity" said that "the first opportunity was today." He added, "Every day that Sharon bars Jewish citizens from the Temple Mount he supports the claim of his critics that his visit to the Temple Mount before the elections was a political manipulation. If the opening of the Temple Mount is a question of timing, we can wait from now to the arrival of the Messiah."

Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert said he supports Jews resuming visits to the Temple Mount. "It's time that Jews will be given the same privilege as Muslims to visit the most sacred and important place in Jewish history," he said.

"If we act properly - quietly, in a controlled manner, but with determination - not only will we establish the fact that the Temple Mount is not closed to Jews . . . we will mobilize broad support from the world, which is sick of the Islamic fanaticism that is threatening the stability of Western culture," he added.

Authority inspectors should be allowed to resume its supervision of Muslim construction work on the Mount to prevent the destruction of antiquities. Education Minister Limor Livnat, who oversees the Antiquities Authority, is also urging Sharon to reopen the site.

Not all Jewish politicians are enthusiastic about the move. Knesset Member Ran Cohen (Meretz) said that while everyone has a right to visit the Temple Mount, all changes in the policy of visitation should be coordinated with the Waqf and not "imposed in a manner that will cause conflagration and bloodshed."

Jewish worship on the Mount not recommended
In its recommendation to Sharon, the ISA suggested that a police force be stationed on the Mount to protect visitors, but the agency did not recommend permitting Jews to hold group prayer there. Previous Israeli governments have prohibited Jews and Christians from worshipping on the Mount while protecting the right of access for all faiths.

Although most orthodox Jewish leaders caution Jews from visiting the Temple Mount, in fear that they would inadvertently enter the site's holy areas without taking proper ritual purification beforehand, the rabbis of the Yesha Council of settlements have suggested in recent years building a synagogue at the southern extreme of the compound.

Chief Rabbi of Haifa Sha'ar Yishuv Cohen told Ma'ariv this week that "a synagogue should be built on the Temple Mount that can be entered under all rules of Jewish law . . . There are certain areas on the Mount where all Jews are permitted to enter."

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