In 2004, the ramp leading up to the Mugrabim Gate (Hebrew for the Gate of the North Africans) to the Temple Mount developed some cracks inside its earthen fill and was deemed in danger of collapse. As a result, a wooden bridge was constructed around the ramp to allow access to the Mugrabim Gate. The ramp, by the way, is the result of the massive excavations along the southern side of the Temple Mount; excavators dug on the southern side of the gate, leaving the approach area to the gate unexcavated.

Three years later, someone suddenly decided that it was time to build a new bridge over the ramp in order to fix the entrance to the gate. Before building the new bridge, the Israel Antiquities Authority started to conduct salvage excavations in the ramp in order to ascertain the nature of the archaeological remains in the ramp. These excavation works were launched completely secretly, without consulting any of the Moslem authorities on the Temple Mount.

Israel and the planning authorities in Jerusalem have of all the legal rights to conduct these excavations - but anything that has anything to do with the Temple Mount is explosive. It is the place where Judaism and Islam meet and as such is an area of the highest sensitivity. The spark for both the first and the second intifada was an event that occurred on the Temple Mount.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared that the excavations should continue and that "it is Israel's right to conduct them." Yes, it is our right to conduct these excavations, but is it wise to do so at this time?

Those who are for the excavations claim that the area is outside the Temple Mount, it has nothing to do with anything Moslem, and it is has to be done for safety reasons. But, what they tend not to mention is that the excavations and the bridge are funded by an organization that has for the last 20 years taken over Arab houses in the City of David under the exact same pretext - archaeological excavations. The other fact that the devotees of these excavations fail to mention is that peeking out from the side of the ramp is one of the most intriguing remains from the original Temple Mount: The tip of an ancient gate, called Barclay's Gate.

 This gate, which is named after the man who discovered it in the 19th century, was one of the entrances to the Temple Mount. Pilgrims probably entered the actual Temple area through a tunnel that is hidden behind Barclay's Gate. It could be that getting to the gate is not on the agenda of the excavators, but the Moslems feel that the Jews are trying to gain a foothold on the Temple Mount through this ancient gate. Maybe this is farfetched, but the excavations funded by a very similar group, digging along the Western Wall Tunnels, tried to do exactly that: open one of the ancient gates underneath the current ground level in order to get into the Temple Mount.

Why the government of Israel is bending to the will of these fanatics is an enigma. The result, as before, will be another Moslem uprising that will allow the Palestinians to put aside their differences and fight a common enemy. Olmert  is again leading this country towards war.