What provocation is there when Jews come to visit the place with a message of peace? he said

“What provocation is there when Jews come to visit the place with a message of peace?” he said. When Sharon began his visit Thursday morning, accompanied by members of his Likud party, about 1,000 Israeli police were deployed around the site. Young Palestinians defiantly shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is great). Some tried to break through the police cordon but were pushed back.

Faisal Husseini, a senior Palestinian official responsible for Jerusalem, was struck in the leg by a policeman’s club. After his Temple Mount visit, Sharon stopped at the Western Wall, a remnant of the Temple and today the holiest site of Judaism. Some Jewish worshippers cheered and clapped when they spotted Sharon., The mosque compound has been the site of bloody clashes in the past. In 1990, rumors that Jewish extremists planned to start rebuilding the Temple started a riot in which 17 Palestinians were killed and scores wounded by police gunfire. In 1996, the Israeli government opened an archeological tunnel just outside the compound, sparking riots in which 80 people, most of them Palestinians, were killed..

The attorney general of Israel cleared the former prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, of corruption charges yesterday, opening the way for a political comeback that could challenge Prime Minister Ehud Barak. The attorney general of Israel cleared the former prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, of corruption charges yesterday, opening the way for a political comeback that could challenge Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
Elyakim Rubinstein said in a 22-page statement, issued after months of deliberation, that he felt “discomfort” about the case but doubted there was enough evidence for the charges to stand up in court. He said Mr Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, would not face trial for allegedly trying to receive bribes.The decision will give little comfort to Palestinian leaders with whom Mr Barak is trying to conclude an agreement to end 52 years’ conflict. The peace process was severely strained during Mr Netanyahu’s term as leader from 1996 to 1999.Police had recommended that Mr Netanyahu, 50, be charged for accepting free services from a private contractor and keeping official gifts when he left office.