 |
Barak Wants US Clarifications on Temple Mount
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak will not sign any agreement ceding Israel's sovereignty over the Temple Mount, the prime minister's office said Thursday.
In response to criticism that Barak is ready to give up the Temple Mount, known to Arabs as al-Haram al-Sharif or Holy Sanctity, to the Palestinians, the office said that Barak has never made such a promise.
Meanwhile, Barak sent a letter on Thursday to a chief rabbi Eliahu Bakshi Doron, saying that he intended to demand clarifications from U.S. President Bill Clinton on his idea regarding the shrine in the walled Old City in East Jerusalem, revered by both Jews and Muslims.
In the letter, Barak said he would consult chief rabbis before deciding on the fate of the disputed area, where the compound of the Islamic holy site of al-Aqsa Mosque sits on top of the Western Wall, the only remaining part of the ruined Jewish Temple and the holiest site in Judaism.
However, Doron said Thursday that Barak's letter did not include a verbal pledge that he will not give up the Temple Mount to the Palestinians.
Barak had been more resolved and promised not to make concession on the Temple Mount in a telephone conversation with chief rabbis a week ago, Doron said.
The chief rabbis have said they oppose the transfer of sovereignty on the Mount to the Palestinians.
In his proposals, Clinton has made several suggestions regarding the disputed site. According to one idea, the Palestinians will control the above-ground mosque compound while Israel will have sovereignty over the underground area where the remains of the Jewish Temples are believed to lie.
Members of the right-wing National Religious Party (NRP) are scheduled to meet with the chief rabbis Thursday in an effort to convince them to permit Jews to ascend the Temple Mount to pray.
Jewish law forbids Jews from entering the Temple Mount, but the NRP members insist that a special dispensation should be made because of the threat to the Temple Mount which they believe the Clinton idea poses.
In This Section
|