Police Say They Can Handle Friday's Expected Violence

PM Netanyahu returned to Israel from his trip to Hungary and went to a meeting in the Kirya, the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, at 8 PM on Thursday, to discuss the escalating threats of Muslim violence around the Temple Mount.

Muslim leaders are calling for all Mosques to be shut down on Friday and for Muslims around the country to come to Jerusalem and protest outside the Temple Mount, to force Israel to remove the metal detectors from the entrances to the ancient Jewish holy site.

The metal detectors were placed there after three Israel-Arabs murdered two policemen in a terror attack on Friday on the Temple Mount.

Jerusalem's police chief said that the police can handle the expected Muslim violence, even if the metal detectors stay, according to Channel 2.

Various internal and external sources are putting a lot of pressure on Netanyahu to remove the metal detectors, which would be a major blow to Israel's security and deterrence.

The police have been a consistent advocate of keeping the metal detectors in place.

The US would like Netanyahu to accept a proposal where the metal detectors would be removed and replaced with guards using hand-held metal detectors which would only be selectively used, and effectively useless.

At 10:30 PM, there will be a security cabinet meeting to make a final decision.

What Netanyahu will decide to do in the end is anyone's guess.