In February, Israel began excavation work on a pathway leading from the Western (Wailing) Wall to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam's third-holiest site, eliciting outrage in the Muslim world and prompting UNESCO to call for an immediate halt to the work. The Jerusalem Mayor's Office decided to suspend work on the project on Feb. 12 but failed to appease Muslim authorities, who asserted that the dig, while not under the Al-Aqsa mosque itself, could harm its foundations. Israel postponed resumption of the dig again in October.Leading Israeli daily Haaretz reported yesterday that the Israeli cabinet had recently instructed the IAA to complete the work "as soon as possible, with full transparency and with the cooperation of the relevant bodies."
"There is no change in Israel's policy and there is no new Cabinet decision on the issue," Israel Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesperson Yariv Ovadia told Today's Zaman over the telephone on Monday.
Last month, Today's Zaman published a report drawn up by Turkish experts who harshly criticized the excavation. Turkish experts visited the site because the Ayyubid, Mamluk and Ottoman dynasties ruled in the area successively between the 12th and the beginning of the 20th century. According to the Turkish team, "the ongoing activities give the impression that they are a planned and systematically implemented effort which aims to destroy the values associated with cultural assets and the sources of information of these cultures."
Ovadia said that the Israeli officials have been examining the report and would make a statement after finalizing their examination. He did not elaborate on when this would happen.
Benzer Haberler 
Diplomacy
