Riots broke out on the Temple Mount on Friday afternoon as hundreds of Muslim worshipers threw stones at police officers, following a week of confrontations between right-wing Jews and Muslims on the site.
Police arrested 14 Jews and Arabs during the past week, including Likud activist Moshe Feiglin, for various incidents involving violence and refusing to obey police officers.
Towards the end of Friday prayers, hundreds of Muslim worshipers streamed out of the mosque and started throwing stones at the soldiers and border police, according to Jerusalem deputy police spokesman Shlomit Bajshi.
Police responded with force, including shock grenades. Two people were injured from the stone throwing.
An Arab man also attempted to stab a police officer next to one of the gates leading to the Temple Mount, said national police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. The knife was recovered and the man was arrested.
Rioters also threw rocks in the direction of the Western Wall plaza below, but police officers were able to stop them before any rocks were thrown at Jewish worshipers below.
Police anticipated possible disturbances on the Temple Mount, heightening security and bringing extra units of police, border police, and soldiers both in the area of the Temple Mount and at Mugrahbi gate, said Rosenfeld.
However, there were no age restrictions placed on the Muslim worshipers, such as limiting entrance to men over age 40, a common practice when police expect major riots.
Rosenfeld said that police are expecting a "wave of arrests" in the coming days against people involved in Friday\’s riot.
The Rabbi of the Western Wall, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, called on the public to continue to come to the Western Wall during the Sukkot holiday, which is one of the pilgrimage holidays when observant Jews traditionally visit the Western Wall. The Western Wall plaza was filled with thousands of worshipers during the riot on Friday and were not evacuated by police, he said.
An estimated 50,000 Jews crowded into the Western Wall plaza on Wednesday morning for the "Blessing of the Preists" (Birkat Hacohanim). More than one million visitors from Israel and abroad are expected to pass through Jerusalem during the Sukkot holiday, which ends Monday.
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