The name the Romans gave the defeated Jerusalem after spreading salt on its soil in 136 CE was Aelia Capitolina, which meant it was now dedicated to Jupiter Capitolinus, whose temple was erected, where else, on the Temple Mount. So that, despite the similarity in sounds, the name did not mean “capitulated city.” But as of Monday night, Capitulated City sure describes the state of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem.
After debating the pros and cons of maintaining the metal detectors at the entrance to the Temple Mount for four hours Monday night, Israel’s Security Cabinet issued the following statement:
1. The Security Cabinet accepted the recommendation of all of the security bodies to incorporate security measures based on advanced technologies (“smart checks”) and other measures instead of metal detectors in order to ensure the security of visitors and worshipers in the Old City and on the Temple Mount.
2. Until the implementation of the plan, Israel Police will reinforce its units and carry out additional actions as necessary in order to ensure the security of visitors on the Mount.
3. The Security Cabinet decided to allocate a budget of up to $28 million to implement the plan (over a time frame of up to six months) including an across-the-board cut as necessary, according to the plan to be presented by the Public Security Ministry. The cost of the plan will also include financing for police personnel positions in accordance with the recommendation of the police.
This is a statement of defeat masquerading as a technical solution to a secondary problem. At stake were not the means by which police would ascertain which particular Arab in the crowd mobbing the Temple Mount on a given Friday has a knife in his pocket (which the metal detector can detect) or murder in his heart (which, we’re told, some face recognition programs can tell). The issue at stake was whether or not Israel is the sovereign in all of Jerusalem, and now the Netanyahu cabinet has confirmed unmistakably: We Are Not.
The proof is in the pudding: The Muslim worshipers who arrived at the Temple Mount Tuesday are refusing to enter the compound and the Al-Aqsa Mosque despite the removal of the metal detectors during the night, because, they said: “We will not agree to enter the mosque until all the cameras are removed.”
And after the Bibis Capitulinus government removes the cameras, the Muslim rioters will come up with another objection, maybe not this week but soon and with renewed energies, because now they’ve felt the might of their group action.
We do note that Ministers Bennett, Shaked and Elkin voted against the cabinet’s decision, as was revealed Tuesday morning by MK Bezalel Smotrich, who commented: “The message to the Arab street and the terrorists is clear: terrorism pays.”
For Bibi, with his deep awareness of historical ironies—being the son of a renowned historian and all—it must be strange, possibly even uncomfortable, to find himself in the shoes of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who on September 30, 1938, having just signed away in Munich the sovereignty of Czechoslovakia over the Sudetenland, told his fellow countrymen:
“My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honor. I believe it is peace for our time. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Go home and get a nice quiet sleep.”