Netanyahu defends climbdown on holy site metal detectors
31 July 2017 12:19 AM IST
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday defended his decision to remove metal detectors from the entrance to a Jerusalem holy site after deadly unrest, saying it was in the best interest of security.
Israel installed metal detectors and security cameras after a July 14 attack near the Haram al-Sharif, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, in which gunmen killed two policemen.
Israeli police said the metal detectors were needed because guns were smuggled into the site and the assailants emerged from it to carry out the attack.
The move sparked Muslim protests and deadly unrest, and the government removed the detectors on Tuesday as well as the cameras. That, however, brought fierce criticism from the far- right flank of Netanyahu's own conservative coalition.
A poll of Israeli Jews found 77 per cent thought the move constituted "capitulation", while even the normally pro- Netanyahu newspaper Israel Hayom attacked his handling of the crisis. "I listen to the sensitivities of the public, I understand their feelings, I know that the decision we took is not an easy one," he said at the start of today's cabinet meeting - his first public comment on the removal of all the security measures.
Palestinians saw the new security measures as Israel asserting further control over the holy site.
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