A.B. Yehoshua: Coalition Cowardice Threatens Temple Mount

By Etgar Lefkovits (Jerusalem Post December 29, 2001)

JERUSALEM (December 30) - The government is not acting to stop work being carried out by the Wakf on the Temple Mount that could be damaging our Jewish heritage, prominent Israeli author A. B. Yehoshua said over the weekend.

"It is so sad to see these archeological treasures going to waste, which are of such significance to all of us, because of the Palestinian desire to create facts on the ground. It is clear that the government - out of fear - is hesitant to act or renew supervision at the [politically sensitive] site," he said in a telephone interview.

The Israel prize winner was one of a dozen dignitaries who signed a blistering seven-page letter the non-partisan Committee Against the Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount sent to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon last week.

The committee comprises archaeologists, writers, jurists, and politicians who have been decrying Wakf work at the site for two years.

The letter, which includes a 14-page annex detailing the various works they allege the Islamic trust has been carrying out, was signed, among others, by two former Supreme Court presidents, Justices Meir Shamgar and Moshe Landau; former state comptroller Miriam Ben-Porat; authors A.B. Yehoshua, Amos Oz and Yizhar Smilansky; and former IDF chief of general staff Dan Shomron.

In the interview, Yehoshua noted that irony that he, a noted left-wing activist, would criticize the inaction of a government comprising "Landau and Lieberman."

"This government, like governments past, has no clear policy regarding its position on the Temple Mount," he charged.

Like his predecessor, newly appointed Jerusalem police spokesman Kobi Zrihan has repeatedly denied that any digging is being carried out on the Temple Mount, claiming the latest pictures produced by the committee are of "approved surfacing work carried out...at the entrance to an office that does not contain any archeological artifacts"- a claim that is mocked by leading archeologists.

"Since when do police know what an archeological artifact is?" asked Dr. Eilat Mazar of the Hebrew University. She insisted the latest pictures show the paving over of ancient remains.

The committee charges that the police, eager to maintain quiet, are not giving accurate reports of what is happening, an allegation the police deny - although they have admitted that the Wakf has been cleaning ancient water cisterns there without any archeological supervision for six months.

Yehoshua proposed that a joint team of Jews, Muslims, and Christians be responsible for supervising work at the site. Wakf officials claim the whole area is a mosque, in which they may do as they please.

A spokesman for Internal Security Minister Uzi Landau said Friday that Landau was holding meetings and consultations following the latest reports.

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