Israel hopes to coordinate Temple Mount camera installation ‘as soon as possible’
Israel is interested in working with a Jordanian team to coordinate the placement of 24-hour surveillance cameras on the Temple Mount “as soon as possible,” an official in the Prime Minister’s Office said Monday.
“We have no interest in delaying this,” he said.
The official’s comments came after the Wakf, the Muslim religious trust which administers the site, issued a statement on Monday saying that Israel did not allow it to place cameras at the Mughrabi Gate, the only entrance to the Mount for non-Muslims.
“This only proves Israel is seeking to install cameras that serve its own purpose, and does not want to install cameras to show the truth,” a Wakf statement read.
The PMO official said Israel opposed the Wakf move because it was not coordinated with it.
Placing security cameras on the Temple Mount is one step toward calming the situation that was agreed upon following separate meetings US Secretary of State John Kerry had on Thursday and over the weekend with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and Jordanian King Abdullah II.
Following the incident at the Mughrabi Gate, the PMO issued a statement saying that “final arrangements for the manner and location of the cameras on the Temple Mount, which was agreed upon among Israel, Jordan, and the United States, were intended to be coordinated by the professional elements.”
The cameras will be installed, the statement read, “according to the arrangements to be determined between the parties. Israel has already expressed its consent to start the process as soon as possible,” the statement continued.