Metal detectors in Old City
Metal detectors in Old CityTemple organizations

The decision to remove the magnetometers at the Temple Mount entrances is also affecting elements outside the political arena.Police stationed there are signalling concern and wonder whether they are meant to be "sitting ducks", as they put it.

Arutz Sheva spoke with Avigail Sherara, Executive Director of the Police and Wardens' Wives Association, who says she is concerned not only for the police but also for their families.

"It is inconceivable that the security of police and visitors to the Mount will be affected; the police are performing a holy function by protecting all citizens of the State of Israel, and their security is paramount."

Sherara supports calls for police officers to refuse stationing at the Temple Mount gates. She recalls the tragic murder of the two policemen a week-and-a-half ago, and says that even if she does not know how widespread the call for refusal is, she "assumes that we are dealing with many policemen. Perhaps not all of them express this out loud, but the families who send the policemen to defend Israelfeel that way, maybe even more than the police themselves."

"What mother would want to send her son, and what woman would send her husband, to a place where there is not enough security, where any moment a terrorist event could occur?" she asks, and when asked about dangers in other places, she says the Temple Mount is "an unusual place, where police are murdered in cold blood. Maximum protection must be afforded, not moves that forgo the police officers' security."

Regarding steps to be taken by police wives, she said "in the meantime, we hope that the State of Israel, the government and the cabinet, will make decisions that protect the policemen." As for the decision to provide security alternatives to magnetometers, she says she hopes these alternatives will ensure the safety of the visitors - and the security of the police.