US ‘applauds’ Israel for removing metal detectors from Temple Mount

ERIC CORTELLESSA

White House press secretary lauds Jerusalem’s efforts to ‘maintain security while reducing tensions in the region’

Border policeman stand guard outside the Lions Gate of the Old City in Jerusalem, July 25, 2017. (Raoul Wootliff/Times of Israel)

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration praised Israel Tuesday night for removing metal detectors from the entrances to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City, a security measure that has sparked violent protests and a diplomatic crisis with Jordan.

“The United States applauds the efforts of Israel to maintain security while reducing tensions in the region,” departing White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said in a statement.

Israel’s security cabinet decided Tuesday that the newly installed metal detectors — which set up in the wake of a terror attack at the holy site in which two Israeli police officers were killed — would be removed, and replaced with security measures based on “advanced technologies.”

Israel will instead use high-resolution cameras capable of detecting hidden objects as the alternative.

The White House hailed the decision “despite the demonstrated need to enhance security at the Temple Mount/Haram al Sharif in the wake of the murder of two Israeli police officers at the site on July 14.”

The metal detectors were set up by Israel following the July 14 attack in which three Arab Israeli assailants killed two Israeli Druze officers just outside the Temple Mount.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer speaks to members of the media in the Brady Briefing room of the White House in Washington, Monday, July 17, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Israel shut the site that day and July 15, and re-opened it with new security arrangements in place. The implementation of the measures set off daily unrest and clashes between Palestinian rioters and Israeli police in and around East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

The violence came to a head Friday after midday prayers as three Palestinian protesters were killed in violent riots against security forces and another two died in clashes on Saturday.

Late on Friday, a Palestinian terrorist stabbed to death three members of the Salomon family at their Shabbat table in the West Bank settlement of Halamish, as others, including children, rushed to hide. He was shot and wounded by an off-duty soldier who lives nearby.

Yosef Salomon, 70, and his daughter Chaya Salomon, 46, seen at a recent family celebration. They were stabbed to death on July 21, 2017 in a terrorist attack at Halamish (courtesy)

After two days of silence, US President Donald Trump dispatched one of his top envoys to the region to try and reduce tensions.

Special envoy Jason Greenblatt arrived in Israel Monday afternoon, had meetings with US Ambassador to the United States David Friedman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and then left for Amman for more meetings.

Despite the overnight removal of the metal detectors and security cameras from entrances to the Temple Mount, worshipers continued their protests Tuesday, saying they would not end a boycott of the site until security measures returned to how they were before the attack.