BICOM

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s forum of eight senior cabinet ministers decided yesterday to delay the destruction of the Mughrabi Bridge, which leads from the Western Wall to the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. The ministers decide to strengthen the bridge instead, in order to allow it to reopen to Jews and foreign tourists who use it to enter the Temple Mount. The decision was made not to destroy and rebuild the bridge due to the sensitivity of the matter among the Arab world and in order not to increase tensions with Palestinians and Jordan over the issue.

The bridge has been closed since the beginning of the week after engineers warned it was unsafe and needed repairs. The bridge will now be reinforced and coated in non-flammable materials and reopened in the next few days.

The Jerusalem municipality released a statement after the government ministers’ decision calling it regrettable that the government does not want to build a new bridge.