Israel Should Close Off Temple Mount for Ramadan

In recent days have Palestinian rioters on top of the Temple Mount in central Jerusalem repeatedly attacked Jews below at the Western Wall by throwing down rocks against them. Israeli riot police had to calm down the situation, arrest the rioters and remove the rocks piled up on the mount. Action included use of riot control measures, including rubber bullets. The Palestinian rioters themselves had no problem with defiling al-Aqsa mosque as they wore shoes indoors in the mosque contrary to universal Islamic custom. Israel was condemned by the Arab world and Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh of Jordan even lauded the rioters in the strongest terms possible. This distinctly unfriendly verbal public act by the Jordanian PM is particularly serious considering the Jordanian custodianship over the holy places in Jerusalem. How could and more importantly should Jerusalem respond? It appears that the only way to stop the riots is to end access for everyone of all religions to the Temple Mount plaza for the full duration of Ramadan 2022. This will teach the inciters and rioters a lesson. The alternative is daily riots for the rest of Ramadan and peace-loving Muslims and Arabs surely don’t want that do they? The Israeli government should begin with closing off the Temple Mount for a week and if the rioting resumes then the Temple Mount would be closed off for the remainder of Ramadan. Please note that this is not collective punishment since this strictly temporary ban would be non-discriminatory as it would apply to everyone irrespective of religion.