Cabinet reportedly OKs removing ‘inciters’ from Temple Mount

The cabinet reportedly approved Tuesday the issuing of dozens of restraining orders to prevent “heads” of a Palestinian incitement campaign from entering the Temple Mount, as part of a series of measures Israel is hoping will help stem the ongoing wave of terror attacks.

According to a report by Hebrew-language website Ynet, the cabinet also approved the administrative detention of several of the so-called inciters.

The approval came as the cabinet okayed a number of anti-terrorist measures, including the deployment of troops to Israeli cities, loosening gun control restrictions for civilians and taking extra security measures for Jerusalem, including checkpoints around some Arab neighborhoods.

The move came hours after a series of terror attacks in Jerusalem and central Israel killed three and injured dozens more on Tuesday, the deadliest day in a wave of terror that has seen near daily stabbing attacks for nearly two weeks. There were two more stabbing attempts in Jerusalem on Wednesday; a 70-year-old Jerusalem woman was injured in one of the attacks, at the central bus station.

Following cabinet approval, the Shin Bet security service will submit to Israel Police a list of the people who it wants restrained from the Temple Mount or arrested. Police will carry out the arrests and serve the restraining orders.

Extremists barricading themselves inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque are among the individuals the Shin Bet would like to see distanced from the volatile site.

The cabinet also gave the IDF’s OC Central Command the authority to limit the amount of time Knesset members can spend on the Temple Mount.

Lawmakers enjoy immunity that renders them exempt from bans on visiting the site, but their immunity can be restricted in cases of security risks.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week asked the police to ban all MKs from the Temple Mount. His order, however, cannot be maintained for a long period of time due to the fact that it impinges on the lawmakers’ immunity, Ynet reported.

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein and his deputy Raz Nizry were present at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting.

Much of the violence over the last weeks has been touched off by Palestinian claims that Israel intends to change the status quo at the Temple Mount. The Israeli government has repeatedly denied any intention of altering the status quo on the site, the holiest in Judaism and third-holiest in Islam, where Jews are currently permitted to visit but not to pray.

Despite the promises, the Arab world has continued to express anger over Israeli actions.

On Wednesday, the Jordanian prime minister said that Jordanian-Israeli ties will be “affected” if the “ongoing Israeli provocations at Al-Aqsa Mosque continue.”

Abdullah Ensour said that Jordan keeps all legal and diplomatic options open to deal with “Israeli assaults” on the mosque, in comments quoted by the paper Al Hayat.

Other Jordanian officials have also threatened to downgrade the country’s ties with Israel over Temple Mount tensions.