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.

REMEMBERING THE INDIAN SOLDIERS WHO HELPED LIBERATE JERUSALEM 100 YEARS AGO

LENNY BEN-DAVID

Allenby’s respect for the Indian soldiers can be seen in his receiving their salute as they marched past him outside of Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem on December 11, 1917, when Allenby entered the city.

Indian Lancers guarding Turkish prisoners in Jerusalem in December 1917. (photo credit:LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

Welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and thank you for the sacrifices made by your country’s soldiers who saved the Jews of the Land of Israel 100 years ago and eventually led to the Jewish state’s creation.

An idyllic fenced park in the middle of the Talpiot neighborhood in Jerusalem, just a four-minute Waze-directed detour from Hebron Road. This cemetery, which I visited for the first time last week, is the burial site for 79 Indian soldiers who died here fighting for the liberation of Jerusalem in 1917. Another cemetery for the Indian soldiers is in Haifa.

Cemetery in the Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem for fallen Indian soldiers (photo credit: Lenny Ben-David)

More than a million Indian troops fought with the British Army in WWI, at the Western front in Europe, in Africa, Mesopotamia and the Middle East. On the Sinai-Palestine front, 95,000 Indian combatants served; approximately 10% were killed. In 1914-1918 period, they fought the Turkish-German armies at Gallipoli, the Suez Canal, through the Sinai and Palestine and finally Damascus, with crucial battles in Gaza, Jerusalem, Jaffa, Haifa, Nablus and Megiddo.

The Indian soldiers joined other troops in the Sinai-Palestine campaign from Australia, New Zealand, the West Indies, as well as the Jewish Legion. These auxiliary forces relieved British troops badly needed on the Western front in Europe.

The Indian troops served in the cavalry, camel corps, infantry and logistics units. A large number were Muslims, and the Turks attempted to weaken their resolve with religious appeals. Except for a few cases, the Turkish propaganda failed. The importance of Muslim soldiers was understood by the British commander Edmund Allenby. After capturing Jerusalem, he cabled to London, “The Mosque of Omar and the area round it has been placed under Moslem control, and a Military cordon, composed of Indian Mahomedan officers and soldiers, has been established round the Mosque. Guards have been established at Bethlehem and on Rachel’s Tomb. The Tomb of Hebron has been placed under exclusive Moslem control.”

Allenby’s respect for the Indian soldiers can be seen in his receiving their salute as they marched past him outside of Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem on December 11, 1917, when Allenby entered the city.

General Allenby on his horse saluting the Indian troops outside of Jerusalem’s Jaffa Gate on December 11, 1917 (photo credit: Library of Congress)

The war ended in 1918, but British and Indian troops remained to police the British Mandate and put down Arab disturbances. Their photographs can be found in the Library of Congress’ American Colony collection, the British Imperial War Museum and other archives.

Later this year, a large Australian delegation will visit Israel to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the gallant ANZAC capture of Beersheba, which opened the way for the liberation of Jerusalem weeks later.

The author is director of publications at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. A former Israeli diplomat, he is author of American Interests in the Holy Land Viewed in Early Photographs and the forthcoming World War I in the Holy Land Viewed in Early Photographs.