Jordan to live-stream Temple Mount footage

Jordanian and Israeli officials have agreed to install surveillance camera within days at the flashpoint Temple Mount complex, with the goal of streaming the footage live on the internet.

While the details are yet to be completely worked out between Israeli officials and the Islamic Trust, or Waqf -the site's Jordanian controlled administrator-, US Secretary of State John Kerry had announced Saturday that both sides had agreed on new measures covering the compound, including the 24-hour security cameras.

A senior Jordanian government official told The Associated Press that the cameras will be installed in "days, not weeks" and that for now, Muslim clerics and Israeli officials will monitor the feed, but that "the ultimate goal is for the footage to be seen on the Internet, by everyone."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said that "the cameras will transmit to us and to the people at the Waqf. But I don’t rule out that ultimately it will be transmitted everywhere. We have nothing to hide and transparency there is good for us."

Jordan on Tuesday slammed the Palestinian Authority for rejecting the idea of the security cameras, with Jordanian Minister of Wafk Affairs, Hayel al-Daoud, defending the decision which is aimed at "protecting the Aqsa Mosque by documenting what’s happening at the site."

PA officials rejected the idea, arguing that Israel would arrest Palestinians "under the pretext of incitement" with the footage from the cameras.

PA Foreign Minister Riad Malki earlier this week said that the deal brokered by Kerry in Amman was a "trap," a comment Adnan Abu Odeh, a veteran Jordanian politician and former advisor to both King Abdullah and King Hussein called "provocative, tasteless and inappropriate."

"The cameras will document everything, including those who want to assault Palestinians or Israelis," Odeh said. "The cameras will document anyone who caries out an assault or Jews who want to pray there."

-Knesset member defies Netanyahu's ban, visits Temple Mount-

Christian-Arab Knesset member Basel Ghattas visited the Temple Mount complex Wednesday, despite Netanayhu's explicit order banning all lawmakers from the flashpoint site.

"Today I visited the al-Aksa mosque compound." Ghattas said in a statement. "I saw with my own eyes groups of religious Jews praying and singing 'Am Yisrael Hai' while police forces watched from the sidelines. This is a change of the status quo."

"Visiting al-Aksa is an elementary and fundamental right," he said, adding that "the occupation does not give Netanyahu and his government sovereignty over al-Aksa or the occupied territories."

According to Israel's Interior Security Minister Gilad Erdan, Ghattas snuck into the Temple Mount complex, stating that Knesset members who defy the ban are "provocateurs inciting violence that may lead to the murder of innocent people."

On October 8th Netanyahu ordered police to ban all Israeli ministers and parliamentarians from visiting the Temple Mount in a bid to calm recent unrest after convening the security cabinet to try to avoid a "dangerous provocation" that might set off a "powder keg."

Since the ban, numerous Palestinian figures have been stopped from visiting the site, including Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdalla and Arab MK Jamal Zahalka who argued with police barring his entry screaming "Who is Netanyahu in this context? There is no rule that says the prime minister can bar MKs from entering a holy place! The prime minister cannot just order to violate people’s freedom of movement," he said, adding that he is considering petitioning High Court against Netanyahu’s decision.

Netanyahu has reiterated his stance numerous times "reaffirming Israel's commitment" to upholding the status quo at the mosque compound under which Jews are allowed to visit but not pray.

Known to Muslims as Al-Aqsa mosque, the compound is situated in east Jerusalem which was seized from Jordan in the 1967 war. While Jordan has retained custodial rights over the holy sites, administered by the Jordanian Waqf, Israel controls access. Clashes at the site erupted in September as Muslims protested an increase in Jewish visitors during their religious holidays. Palestinian protesters accuse the Jewish state of seeking to change the rules governing the compound which allows Jews to visit, but not pray there.

-Return to the Wall, Rabbi urges Jews-

Meanwhile Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch has urged Jews to return to the Western Wall, describing "an extremly dramatic drop" in the number of visitors to Jerusalem's holy site.

Speaking to Israel's Ynet news site on Sunday, almost one month since the beginning of the recent wave of terror attacks, he called on Jews not to "reward terror" and be afraid of visiting.

"The Western Wall is a place visited by hundreds of thousands of people every month," he said. "Some 11 million people arrive at the site every year. Naturally, because of the situation, people are not coming here as much."

"The roads are protected," he assured. "One can arrive through the Jaffa Gate, through the Jewish Quarter. There isn't a shred of friction there with the Arab population. In general, the Old City is full of security.

While "this past Saturday was slightly better than the previous Saturday, this is not the amount of worshippers we are used to," Rabinovitch told Ynet, adding that "I believe that during this period it is our duty to visit the Western Wall, hold the planned bar mitzvahs and pray to God. Let's be strong and avoid giving terror a prize."