Social media bears most of the responsibility for inflaming the tensions that sparked the riots seen on the Temple Mount in recent days. Beginning with the dissemination of fictitious rumors about Jewish worshippers preparing to perform a ritual Passover sacrifice and Israel's alleged intention of allocating special prayer times for Jews at Muslims' expense to images of police officers striking worshippers in the vicinity of the mosques. Images of rioters throwing rocks at Israeli buses and harassing Jewish worshippers on their way to the Western Wall serve to incentivize other rioters to carry out similar acts.
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But each attempt to thwart the online incitement is a lost cause. Indeed, this incitement once again motivated hundreds of radical and riled up youths to hole up on the mount, riot, set up barricades, throw rocks at the Western Wall Plaza, and confront security forces.
Gaza Strip organizations that want to set Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria alight and incite rebellion among Arab Israelis, but are not currently interested in a direct conflict with Israel in the terrorist enclave, have played their part in fanning the flames.
Two principal factors are responsible for the fact that despite incitement both online and by terrorist organizations, the events on the Temple Mount have not spiraled out of control over the last three days. One has to do with vigorous Egyptian activity behind the scenes: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who according to one Arab source dispatched his son to Jerusalem as part of efforts to calm tensions, not only warned Hamas against renewed rocket fire on Israel but informed the terrorist organization such a move would put an end to Egyptian assistance toward rehabilitating Gaza.
The other and far more significant factor concerns Israeli preparations ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and its proximity to the Passover holiday and the understanding that to get through this trying time in peace, Jerusalem would need to adopt a firm but sophisticated approach.
This approach has worked well over the last three days. The police, which may have failed at securing buses in Jerusalem, rightfully did not hesitate to break into the Temple Mount when rioters began to throw rocks at the Western Wall. Nor did they hesitate to break into the mosque to take over the PA system and the megaphones that were used to further ignite tensions.
The decision to detain hundreds of youths in the mosque to prevent them from continuing to throw rocks followed by their speedy arrest, which was planned in advance, succeeded in containing the event and allowed prayer there to continue. The decision not to ban Jews from ascending the Temple Mount but rather shorten the path taken by visitors to limit friction was another smart move.
Correct judgment was also used by the Israel Defense Forces, which were on high alert during the month of Ramadan, as seen in the entry of 25 battalions into Judea and Samaria to neutralize terrorists, while on the other hand, taking the calculated risk of allowing authorized Palestinian workers to enter the country to alleviate pressure.
Control of this volatile situation can be lost at any minute. As long as the inciting factors are active on the ground and Jordan and the Palestinian Authority continue to condemn and hold Israel fully responsible for the riots instead of trying to calm tensions, motivation to carry out terrorist attacks remains. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict will not be resolved anytime soon. But the correct policy of a firmer hand combined with far more sophisticated planning will help contain such events as long as they arise.
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