AL-QUDS (Dispatches) – A group of retired Israeli officials have warned against placing restrictions at Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan, warning it could lead to “escalation and disturbances on a wide scale”.
In a letter addressed to the regime and intelligence officials, a group of “retired commissioners and superintendents” warned that plans to restrict Palestinians from accessing the Al-Quds holy site would be highly dangerous.
“The exclusion of the Arabs from going up to pray on the Temple Mount could lead to escalation and disturbances on a wide scale,” read the letter, obtained by Channel 12.
“The recommendations of the minister of (so-called) national security are motivated by ideological and electoral considerations and not by operational considerations.”
A proposal put forward by Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Zionist regime’s far-right minister, to limit the entry of Palestinians into the mosque was accepted by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting with senior officials on Sunday, according to a Haaretz report.
The limitations will be based on criteria such as age and gender, the details of which are to be decided in the coming days.
Ben Gvir reportedly recommended that only Palestinians above the age of 70 should be allowed into the mosque during Ramadan, which starts next month, while Israeli police recommended entry for those aged over 45.
He also proposed a complete ban on Palestinians from the occupied West Bank worshipping at Al-Aqsa during the holy month, although no decision has been made on this yet.
Among the signatories to Tuesday’s letter were former police commissioners, including Moshe Karadi, Shlomo Aharonishki, Assaf Hefetz and Roni Alsheich.
The letter said it was important “to learn and draw lessons from the events that took place on the Temple Mount in recent years.
“The Israeli police knew in the past to allow the existence of prayers while limiting the number of worshippers but only on the basis of an intelligence and operational situational assessment,” it warned.
The proposals had already provoked a backlash from other sections of the Zionist regime.
Shin Bet said last week that it opposed restrictions and instead favored unrestricted access for Palestinians.