Minister says removal of Temple Mount metal detectors ‘regrettable’

Culture Minister Miri Regev on Tuesday spoke out against the cabinet’s decision to remove metal detectors from outside the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, saying the highly controversial move that set off days of protest had added to security at the site.

Regev told Army Radio that the decision was “regrettable,” adding, “You don’t have to be a security expert to understand that metal detectors have a deterrent and security effect.”

The removal of the metal detectors followed an Israeli security cabinet decision Monday to replace them with security measures based on “advanced technologies,” allocating some NIS 100 million ($28 million) over a six-month period for the plan.

The detectors were set up after a shooting attack on July 14, in which three assailants used guns smuggled into the Temple Mount to kill two police officers guarding nearby.

Installation of the metal detectors 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 over the weekend, when three Israeli family members were murdered by a Palestinian terrorist who stabbed them to death at their Shabbat table in the West Bank settlement of Halamish on Friday, as others, including children, rushed to hide.

The 19-year-old terrorist had written a Facebook post prior to the attack that he would die as a martyr to defend the al-Aqsa Mosque, which sits in the Temple Mount compound.

During a visit to Halamish after the murders, Regev slammed as “exaggerated” claims of any connection between the murders and the metal detectors.

“Muslim terror doesn’t need explanations and excuses. It has fought Zionism since its inception. The metal detectors shouldn’t move a millimeter from their place,” she said, according to the Maariv news site.

Five Palestinians were killed in clashes between rioters and police on Friday and Saturday.