A terrorist attack at the Temple Mount last month led Israel to install metal detectors and other security measures at the site, which in turn led to Palestinian demonstrations and rioting, which died down after Israel removed the metal detectors. The initial incident, writes Yossi Kuperwasser, was the first “in many years” that “involved a relatively extensive organization that planned a very complex operation at the most sensitive spot.” To Kuperwasser, the entire episode played in to Mahmoud Abbas’s hands:
Through his formal control of the religious establishment in Jerusalem, Abbas made use of the Mufti Muhammad Hussein (whom he himself appointed) to dictate the nature of the struggle [against the metal detectors] and set the conditions for ending it. It was Abbas who decided that the struggle would be the “popular resistance” he favors, meaning it would mainly involve prayers and demonstrations with limited violence and without firearms. Abbas deployed protestors and ostensibly punitive measures against Israel such as [purportedly] halting security coordination and civilian contacts.
It was also he who insisted that Israel remove all the security devices [at the Mount] and did not settle for Jordan’s achievement in getting only the metal detectors removed. And it was Abbas who, after he got Israel to accept his terms, stood at the mufti’s side while he announced that prayer on the Temple Mount had resumed.
Abbas saw Israel’s capitulation in revoking the security measures as a morale-booster for the Palestinians and as a great personal achievement. He has hastened to translate it into several operational goals: stepped-up pressure on Hamas; a change for the better in his public status, among other things by hosting [Jordan’s] King Abdullah in Ramallah and convening the Palestinian National Council as a show of support for his leadership; an attempt to extract further gains from Israel by posing additional conditions for renewing security coordination; and an easing of the American pressure, while criticizing the new administration for its conduct toward the Palestinians thus far. . . .
The Palestinians are caught up in a sense of achievement, which inspires them to harden their positions. . . . Such an atmosphere does not encourage a Palestinian willingness to renew negotiations without prior conditions.
Read more on Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs: http://jcpa.org/article/temple-mount-affair-changed/