Sheikh Raad Salah and four of his followers were charged for their behavior during a protest that took place last week. They are accused of attacking police officers as they tried to force their way into the site where excavations and repair work were being carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Workers were repairing an earthen entrance ramp at the Rambam (Mughrabi) Gate which had collapsed during a snowstorm in 2004. The work has created a storm of protest in the region.
The company responsible for construction in the area announced Tuesday afternoon that it was reconsidering the work there - but withdrew the announcement shortly afterwards.
The indictment filed at the Jerusalem Magistrates Court charged that the Muslim cleric had "instructed the disturbers to sit on the road and refuse to leave." Salah was also caught on tape spitting in a Border Guard police officer's face and cursing him.
"You are racists and murderers, and have no honor," Salah apparently said.
Police asked the court to extend a restraining order against the five Muslim protestors, barring them from approaching the walls of the Old City at a distance of 150 meters or closer for the next 60 days.
Muslim leaders in Israel, including several Arab Knesset Members and Islamic clerics in surrounding Arab countries, called on worshippers to protest the construction, which they claim will damage the al-Aksa mosque located 60 meters from the site.
Excavations have been carried out at the same time in order to preserve artifacts uncovered during the construction, which is being carried out outside the Temple Mount compound.
Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski announced on Sunday that the bridge construction work would be postponed, despite a government vote earlier in the day to continue construction. The mayor's decision does not affect the excavation work.
City spokesman Gideon Schmerling said that Lupolianski, "together with Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rabbi for the Kotel and Holy Places, decided to... allow public discussion of the plans to construct the Mughrabi Bridge at the planning and construction committees."
Schmerling said the decision had been made "due to the sensitivity of the plan and following meetings and discussions with representatives from eastern [neighborhoods of] Jerusalem who requested to look over the plans and voice their opinions."
The mayor was widely criticized by nationalist politicians for what they termed "caving in to Arab pressures."
Workers were repairing an earthen entrance ramp at the Rambam (Mughrabi) Gate which had collapsed during a snowstorm in 2004. The work has created a storm of protest in the region.
The company responsible for construction in the area announced Tuesday afternoon that it was reconsidering the work there - but withdrew the announcement shortly afterwards.
The indictment filed at the Jerusalem Magistrates Court charged that the Muslim cleric had "instructed the disturbers to sit on the road and refuse to leave." Salah was also caught on tape spitting in a Border Guard police officer's face and cursing him.
"You are racists and murderers, and have no honor," Salah apparently said.
Police asked the court to extend a restraining order against the five Muslim protestors, barring them from approaching the walls of the Old City at a distance of 150 meters or closer for the next 60 days.
Muslim leaders in Israel, including several Arab Knesset Members and Islamic clerics in surrounding Arab countries, called on worshippers to protest the construction, which they claim will damage the al-Aksa mosque located 60 meters from the site.
Excavations have been carried out at the same time in order to preserve artifacts uncovered during the construction, which is being carried out outside the Temple Mount compound.
Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski announced on Sunday that the bridge construction work would be postponed, despite a government vote earlier in the day to continue construction. The mayor's decision does not affect the excavation work.
City spokesman Gideon Schmerling said that Lupolianski, "together with Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rabbi for the Kotel and Holy Places, decided to... allow public discussion of the plans to construct the Mughrabi Bridge at the planning and construction committees."
Schmerling said the decision had been made "due to the sensitivity of the plan and following meetings and discussions with representatives from eastern [neighborhoods of] Jerusalem who requested to look over the plans and voice their opinions."
The mayor was widely criticized by nationalist politicians for what they termed "caving in to Arab pressures."