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Temple Mount and the Ultimate Nightmare
Engineer: Western Wall
embankment could collapse
By Nadav Shragai
The Jerusalem Municipality is demanding that an embankment
leading from beside the Western Wall, via the Mughrabi Gate, to
the Temple Mount be demolished immediately, for fear of its
collapse.
The city engineer, Uri Shitrit, has demanded that the Western
Wall Heritage Foundation and the police deal with the issue
before the rainy season starts in earnest, in order to prevent
casualties.
Shitrit said that he had approached all concerned several weeks
ago but that nothing had been done. He noted that part of the
embankment collapsed last February and that it was a miracle no
one was hurt. Damage from last year's earthquake and snow had
further contributed to the dangers, he said.
Shitrit said that the wall of the embankment is made up of
stones and sand and held together by some sort of cement, with
arches that give additional support. "The supporting wall is
cracked, it is not straight and it is showing signs of
collapse," he said. "Because of this, the embankment has started
to give way and is likely to collapse when the heavy rains
come."
The wall that collapsed last year has been fenced off, and part
of the entrance to the Mughrabi Gate has been closed, but people
continue to use this entrance to the Temple Mount. A few weeks
ago, the cabinet approved NIS 5 million to build an alternate
embankment from the Western Wall to the mount. The work has been
held up for several reasons, including the fact that the
Antiquities Authority has not completed excavation work there.
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