AFP, JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scrambled Tuesday to contain inflammatory rhetoric from his government over Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound, at the heart of a wave of deadly Palestinian unrest.
With efforts to defuse tensions already strained, deputy foreign minister Tzipi Hotovely stoked Palestinian fears by saying it was her "dream to see the Israeli flag flying" over the holy site, which is sacred to both Muslims and Jews. "We should raise the flag, this is Israel's capital and it is the holiest place to the Jewish people," she said in excerpts from a TV interview to be broadcast Tuesday.
Netanyahu's office reacted swiftly with a statement late Monday recalling his promise to maintain the status quo which allows Muslims to pray at the site, and Jews to visit but not pray there.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu made it clear that he expects all members of the government to act accordingly," his office said in a statement.
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Editor : M. Shamsur Rahman
Published by the Editor on behalf of Independent Publications Limited at Media Printers, 446/H, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1215.
Editorial, News & Commercial Offices : Beximco Media Complex, 149-150 Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh. GPO Box No. 934, Dhaka-1000.
Editor : M. Shamsur Rahman
Published by the Editor on behalf of Independent Publications Limited at Media Printers, 446/H, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1215.
Editorial, News & Commercial Offices : Beximco Media Complex, 149-150 Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh. GPO Box No. 934, Dhaka-1000.