Home > Hanegbi: Radicals may blow up Temple Mount mosques
Internal Security Minister Tzahi Hanegbi warned Saturday that Jewish
extremists may try to carry out an attack against Arabs on Jerusalem’s
Temple Mount in order to torpedo Israel’s planned unilateral withdrawal
from the Gaza Strip.
"We sense that a threat to the Temple Mount from extremist and fanatic
Jewish elements, hoping to upset the situation and be a catalyst for
change in the political process," Hanegbi told Channel 2’s Meet the
Press. "The threat has increased in the last few months, and especially
in the last few weeks, more than any time in the past."
Hangebi added that while there was no intelligence information pointing
to specific suspects who are planning an attack, there were "worrying
indications" that such plans were "not just theoretical."
"There is a danger that they would want to make use of the most
explosive target, in hope that the ensuing chain reaction would bring
about the destruction of the political process," he said.
In light of the warnings, police are considering banning certain
extremist Jews from entering the Temple Mount, something which they have
done periodically in the past, or placing certain individuals under
"administrative detention," a draconian move usually reserved for
suspected Palestinian terrorists.
More than 50,000 Jewish and Christian visitors have peacefully toured
the ancient compound, which is Judaism’s holiest site, since its
reopening to non-Muslim visitors a year ago.
Two decades ago, 29 Israelis were arrested by police on suspicion of
belonging to a Jewish underground which planned a series of attacks
against Arabs, with 27 of them later indicted on various terror-related
charges.
During their trial, it emerged that one of their plans was to blow up
al-Aksa mosque on the Temple Mount.
The men involved in the conspiracy were sentenced to prison terms
ranging from four months to 10 years.
Most were freed early after being pardoned by then-president Chaim Herzog.
Last week, the head of the Shin Bet Avi Dichter told the Knesset’s
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that the Shin Bet has a list of
between 150 and 200 extremist Jews who are hoping for the death of Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon because of his plan for a full unilateral
withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and four small Samarian settlements by
the end of next year.
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