Jerusalem's Planning and Construction Committee approved Thursday an alternative plan to the controversial Mughrabi Bridge project.

The original plan for the bridge, which leads from the Old City's Dung Gate and the Western Wall to the Temple Mount's Mughrabi Gate, raised hackles in the Arab world when it was presented in February, due to allegations that it would damage the Temple Mount. Some archaeologists and architects also expressed concern that the bridge would damage antiquities or block the view of the Temple Mount.
The bridge will consist of a wooden walkway bordered by metal, with two-meter-high iron railings, as required by the police. The number of pylons supporting it will be reduced from seven to four. The height of the pylons will not exceed half a meter, and they will be placed on platforms in spaces excavated by the Israel Antiquities Authority during its salvage dig, allowing the antiquities to be restored and protected. The planners mapped the archaeological finds along the bridge's path and found spaces in which the pylons could be placed without damaging the antiquities.

	Advertisement

However, although the general route of the bridge is known, the municipality still does not know how it will look. Architect Ada Carmi has been asked to prepare a simulation of the bridge, but its design is expected to undergo subsequent changes.

The bridge will not only be used by visitors coming to the Temple Mount, but also by the police, to send in large forces in case of unrest on the mount, where the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock are located.

The municipality and the Interior Ministry are now preparing to deal with the project's major opponents: Israeli Arabs, East Jerusalem residents and the Arab world.

The original plan, which received expedited approval from the city authorities without being presented to the public, was frozen by Mayor Uri Lupolianski in order to allow the Arab public to submit its objections in an orderly fashion to the Planning and Construction Committee. Lupolianski said he believed the previous opposition to the plan was because of lack of knowledge about it, and that public discussion would persuade the Muslim public that the bridge's construction will not damage or annex areas of the Temple Mount.

The United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) is expected to attempt to mediate between Israelis and Palestinians so that an agreement can be reached to allow the bridge's construction. A UNESCO committee visited Israel a few months ago to hear the various arguments against the project.