Police start to reopen Temple Mount to Jews

We are living in exciting times! 

Well, the 2,300 days of Daniel is up!  And the Israeli police are now re-opening the Temple Mount to Jews and Christians....  Welcome to the End Times!

For those of you not familiar with the significance of this event.  You need to review the End Time Timeline on www.theendtimesaint.com:

Jul. 1, 2003
Police start to reopen Temple Mount to Jews
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS

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Nearly three years after the Temple Mount was declared off limits to non-Muslims, Jerusalem police have begun permitting small groups of Jewish and Christian tourists, as well as Israelis, to reenter the site, police said Monday.

Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said that about 20 groups of some 20 people each have been allowed to enter the bitterly contested site over the last few weeks under police escort, as part of what he called "the beginning of a process" to gradually reopen the area.

Fearing renewed Palestinian violence, police have barred non-Muslims from entering the Temple Mount since Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's controversial visit in September 2000.

The 33 months since has been the longest period Judaism's holiest site has been closed to Jews and Christians since 1967.

The police spokesman said the decision to allow groups to enter the site was made with the approval of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Internal Security Minister Tzahi Hanegbi, and Israel Police Chief, Insp.-Gen. Shlomo Aharonishky.

The Prime Minister's Office had no immediate comment Monday.

Police said that the groups were not permitted to enter any of the mosques. All the visits were coordinated in advance with police, meaning that those who were allowed entry over the last several weeks had knowledge of the situation before it was made public.

For the last year, Jerusalem police have been holding ongoing covert contacts with the Wakf to reopen the area. During that time, the unequivocal position of the Islamic Trust, which handles daily maintenance of the site, has been that only when there is a great influx of tourists in Israel and a change in the political situation would it agree to reopen the mount to visitors.

Wakf director Adnan Husseini did not return repeated calls for comment.
As such, it was not immediately clear whether the Wakf remained strictly opposed to the entry of non-Muslims to the site, or whether they had given their tacit approval to the limited reentry of visitors, but were upset over the publication of the news.

The head of a Jordanian delegation conducting repair work on the southern wall of the Temple Mount had told the Post in May that high level talks were underway between Israel, the Wakf and Jordan to reopen the site to all visitors.
At the time, the senior Jordanian official, Dr. Raif Najim, said that the talks failed to yield an agreement, but opined that such an accord could be reached soon, with the renewal of political negotiations.

Last month, Internal Security Minister Tzahi Hanegbi had caused a stir in the Knesset by stating the site would be reopened soon, "with or without agreement." Following widespread condemnation, he retracted his words the next day.
The initial move towards the reopening the site came in the wake of unanimous agreement by Israeli security officials, including the heads of police and the Shin Bet, that Israel was setting a dangerous precedent by keeping the site closed for so long.

The move was also made possible after security officials deemed that the influence of the Palestinian Authority in Jerusalem was on the wane, after a two year-long ongoing police crackdown on Palestinian political activity in the city.

In February, Jerusalem police chief Mickey Levy had said that that Judaism's holiest site should be reopened to visitors after the American-led war in Iraq.

Before that, in an interview last year, Levy said that "as a Jew and Jerusalem police chief," he was "uncomfortable" with keeping the Temple Mount closed.

At the time, he said that "every effort" was being made to reopen the site to Jews and Christians.
Police said Monday night that it was "too early" to say when the mount would be reopened, but said that groups interested in visiting the site had to contact Jerusalem police's Old City station.