Barak allows Muslim digging on Temple Mount to continue, sparking protests

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Prime Minister Ehud Barak gave Palestinian religious authorities the go-ahead Wednesday to continue expanding prayer accommodations at one of the most sensitive sites in Jerusalem, prompting protests from politicians and archaeologists.

Work would continue at the site known as the Temple Mount to Jews and Christians and the Haram as-Sharif to Muslims, Barak's office said in a statement, with measures in place "maintaining the status-quo and not damaging archaeological artifacts."

That prompted expressions of outrage from politicians and archaeologists, who say that the expansion is destroying rare Jewish and Islamic relics at the site.

"Barak gave a green light to an explosive situation," said Eilat Mazar, an archeology professor at Hebrew University who has worked on the Temple Mount.

The Temple Mount is the site of the First and Second Jewish temples, and abuts the Western Wall -- the only remainder of the Roman sacking of the Second Temple in 70 A.D., and Judaism's holiest site.

Two of the mosques in the 13-century old Muslim sanctuary atop the mount are collectively considered the third holiest site in Islam. The site has remained under Muslim control even after Israel captured the walled Old City in the 1967 Mideast War.

The Wakf -- the Islamic religious council that administers the site -- has recently launched expansion projects, saying that the site can barely accommodate the thousands who now arrive for Friday prayers.

When news of the construction work first emerged earlier this year, archaeologists identified rare and ancient shards in a dump outside Jerusalem where workers had left debris.

Wakf officials have said that the protests are a political attempt to undermine the Muslim claim to the site.

Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert, a leader of the hard-line opposition Likud party, said his opposition did not stem from political considerations, but from his concern that important historical artifacts could be lost forever.

"This protest is not a result of political interests, but an expression of deep anxiety about what is happening there," Olmert said.

Olmert said it was the Wakf promoting a political agenda, wiping Jewish traces from the area so that Israel can no longer claim it has ties. He described Barak's decision as a "big mistake," and said Israeli police could stop the work by blocking the trucks from entering the Old City's narrow roads.

Danny Yatom, a senior Barak adviser, said the presence of archaeologists would guarantee the preservation of antiquities. "The decision is excellent," Yatom said. "It allows us to safeguard the status quo." He refused to elaborate on other measures that would safeguard the site.

Tensions over the rival religious claims have in the past sparked bloody riots, notably in 1929 and in 1990. On Wednesday, Palestinians clashed with a small group of hard-line Jews protesting digging on the mount. Police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said that five Palestinians were detained following the clash.

Some hard-line Jews want the government to reverse the status quo, and allow a Jewish religious presence on the mount.

Chief Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron appealed to both sides not to change the status quo, fearing that this could inflame tensions and harm the peace process.

In a letter written to a gathering of Mideastern religious leaders in Italy last weekend, Bakshi-Doron wrote: "We must preserve and respect the current status and sanctity of the holy Temple Mount. We must be wary of every change in its status, for it could desecrate the sanctity of the place and lead to ... bloodshed."

Bakshi-Doron's aid, Rafi Dayan, told The Associated Press that the rabbi believes the religious areas should be under the jurisdiction of an interfaith council with representatives from the Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities.