ISRAEL REPLACING METAL DETECTORS WITH HI-TECH SURVEILLANCE:

Israel began removing the metal detectors at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount that arebeing cited by the Muslim world as the cause for days of rioting and are replacing them with hi-tech cameras with thermal capabilities. More than $28 million has been allocated for the new system, which will include cameras capable of facial recognition and spotting weapons or explosives. The decision to capitulate on the magnetometers is believed to be tied to a proposal made by USA President Trump’s international negotiator, Jason Greenblatt, and included the situation caused by an incident in Jordan in which an Israeli embassy guard shot and killed two Palestinians working in the area who attacked him with a screwdriver. Jordanian officials refused to allow the embassy staff to leave when they were summoned to return to Israel in order to prevent further incidents in Amman. Although it has been denied that the decision to remove the metal detectors was related to the incident in Jordan, it is believed that the solution was agreed to by Israeli PM Netanyahu and Jordan’s King Abdallah II in discussion with Greenblatt. Israel’s diplomatic staff from the Amman embassy, including the guard who killed the Jordanians, were allowed to leave and returned to Israel on 25 July 2017. (Reuters)