Is the Temple Mount in Danger of Collapse?

Israel fears that Temple Mount retaining wall will collapse and that the region will burn. The problem: Aerial photographs of Temple Mount have proven that al-Aqsa Mosque’s southern wall is inclined to one side. The reasons: Wear-and-tear over time, ground shifting and renovations being carried out by Waqf. The proposal: Israel proposed to assist in renovating wall but Waqf has yet to respond. Waqf: “If wall collapses, there will be general war.” The municipality: “We are helpless.”

Experts from Israel and other countries around the world have recently determined that one of Al-Aqsa Mosque’s retaining walls is in danger of collapse. They claim that if renovations are not carried out immediately at the site, the wall is liable to collapse. Such an event, if it happens, has a vast potential for destruction and would even be liable – beyond direct losses to life that would be caused by a collapse – to ignite the Middle East. The Arab world would likely claim that the wall’s collapse was the result of a religious-Israeli plot to destroy the mosques on the Temple Mount and build the Third Temple in their place.

The experts’ determination was made on the basis of a precise study of aerial photographs of the Temple Mount. The experts were asked by the municipality and the police to examine the aerial photographs and render an opinion in wake of the construction and renovations which Islamic Waqf personnel have carried out in the Temple Mount area. While they were examining the maps, the experts were astounded to discover that Al-Aqsa Mosque’s southern wall was bulging outwards, toward the south. The Mosque’s southern wall is part of the Old City wall and overlooks the village of Silwan and David’s City. Israeli archaeologists have been carrying out excavations at the foot of the several-dozen-meter long wall since 1967. In Israel, it is claimed that there is no connection between the excavations – which are being carried out at a reasonable distance from the wall itself – and the inclination of the wall. However, Israel fears that the Palestinians are liable to exploit the affair in order to claim that it is the archaeological excavations which are damaging the wall and threatening to bring about its collapse.

Since 1967, the Palestinians have been accusing Israel of excavating under the Temple Mount with the goal of undermining the foundations of the mosques and bringing about their collapse; this coming, in their words, in the framework of a plot by Jewish extremists to destroy the mosques and rebuild the Temple in their place. The Palestinian mufti of eastern Jerusalem, Sheikh Ekrema Sabri recently warned that any attempt to infringe on the status quo on the Temple Mount would lead to all-out war in the Middle East.

The experts’ opinion was recently passed on to the Islamic Waqf in eastern Jerusalem and the Jordanian government. The Waqf administration – which is subordinate to the Jordanian government – reported the matter to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. Israel offered to assist the Waqf in renovating the wall in order to prevent its collapse but has not, as of yet, met with any response to its offer. Apparently, the Waqf would prefer to carry out the renovations without Israeli involvement. One of the possibilities is Jordanian, Egyptian and Moroccan experts will soon tour the Temple Mount in order to study the issue and recommend ways to deal with the problem.

At this stage, it is not clear what exactly has caused the Mosque’s wall to bulge. One assessment is that it is due to wear-and-tear over time and various ground movements which have occurred over the centuries. The experts do not rule out the possibility the extensive construction being carried out by the Islamic Waqf on the Temple Mount, including the establishment of a new underground mosque – El Marwani (which Jews call Solomon’s Stables) – have also contributed to the wall’s inclination. They claim that the presence of tens of thousands of worshippers in the Mosque, mainly during Ramadan, is pressing on the wall’s stones and causing them to deviate. Shalom Goldstein, the municipality’s adviser on Arab affairs, says that, “It is known to the municipality that the wall has a ‘belly’ which attests to the fact that it is indeed inclining to one side. However the municipality is helpless and cannot deal with the situation since it lacks a statutory position on the Temple Mount. Police officers go there. We can only watch from outside and sound warnings but beyond that, we have no authority.”

This article ran in Yediot Aharonot on 17th August