A Metal Detector Intifada Avoided?

Israel yesterday stepped back from the crisis at the Temple Mount by removing metal detectors installed at the site after the murder of two Israeli police officers by Palestinian gunmen. The removal of the metal detectors will be combined with the installation of a sophisticated camera scanning system throughout the Old City of Jerusalem, as Haaretz reports:

Israel’s security cabinet decided during a meeting on Monday night to remove the metal detectors installed at the entrances to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The metal detectors have aroused a wave of protests among Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank, which have echoed across the Arab world.

A senior Israeli official who attended the meeting noted that the metal detectors “will be replaced by advanced technological means” that will enable “smart inspection” throughout Jerusalem’s Old City to ensure the security of visitors to the Temple Mount compound.

The senior official also noted that the security cabinet has allocated 100 million shekels to the Israel Police and the Ministry of Public Security to prepare for and eventually implement the new security system. According to the official, Israel Police will beef up its forces to ensure the security of visitors to the compound. The official added that the cabinet emphasized that Israel intends to maintain the status quo at the holy site.

The proposal, suggested to the cabinet by the Jerusalem district police, seems to addresses Israeli security concerns while saving face for Palestinians who demand the removal of the apparently execrable metal detectors. It’s an important step towards de-escalating a crisis that appeared to be on the verge of spiraling out of control. Hours before removing the metal detectors, Israel evacuated its entire diplomatic staff from Jordan following a stabbing attack at the embassy that prompted a 24-hour standoff. It’s not clear whether the negotiation with Jordan to allow the departure of embassy staff was part of a larger agreement on removing the metal detectors, but Jordan will be critical in any resolution to the crisis. It is the Jordanians, not the Palestinian Authority, that administers the Temple Mount complex which includes al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock

We wrote last week that anyone with even a basic understanding of the facts will find the Palestinian response to the metal detectors contemptible. That remains all the more true after both the stabbing attack in Amman and the horrific murder of an Israeli family who were slaughtered at their Shabbat table. Even as defenders of the Palestinian cause insist that the issue is about more than metal detectors, Palestinian rioters have demonstrated the absurdity of their own position by burning cardboard metal detector effigies:

Palestinian burning cardboard metal detectors in Bethlehem as riots continue in multiple areas. pic.twitter.com/kNKIPNNi7j

— United With Israel (@UniteWithIsrael) July 24, 2017

But the Israeli government appears to have also concluded that the crisis was more trouble than it was worth. Just because the Palestinians are being driven by paranoia about the status quo on the Temple Mount does not mean that the fact of their paranoia and the violent rage it produces can be discounted. What remains to be seen is whether the Palestinians can accept this compromise. Palestinian advocates are already making the case that the cameras would be worse than the metal detectors:

But the cameras might actually affect Palestinian lives more than the metal detectors. Their program will compare faces to social media 3/4

— Asaf Ronel (@AsafRonel) July 24, 2017

The Israeli government has identified a reasonable solution to this crisis. Unfortunately, it was prompted by an unreasonable terrorist attack, and unreasonable riots in response to the entirely reasonable installation of metal detectors. The question now is whether the Palestinians can embrace a reasonable de-escalation.

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