"MONITOR THE MOUNT": An editorial in the Jerusalem Post weighs in on the latest Temple Mount controversy. Excerpts:

Now this archaeological travesty is being compounded by a mortal and political danger of hardly less substantial proportions. Imagine if the southeast corner of the Temple Mount, containing the Marwani mosque, collapsed on thousands of worshipers praying inside. This is no idle concern, given that a large bulge has recently appeared on the southern wall of the Mount, and signs of cracking on eastern wall, both at the corner containing the mosque.

We do not know, of course, whether the danger of collapse is exaggerated. We do know that if there is a collapse, the magnitude of the human catastrophe could be enormous. We also know that, no matter how loudly our government warns of danger and complains about its self-imposed lack of access, the blame for a disaster will be laid at Israel's doorstep.

. . . The government has no choice but to insist that its own engineers, with or without an international team of colleagues to make it more palatable, are allowed to properly inspect and monitor the site, from both an archaeological and a public safety perspective.

. . . Caution and prudence are warranted, but simply hoping for the best is neither cautious nor prudent.

Any Israeli effort to increase supervision should receive backing from relevant international bodies, such as UNESCO, to counteract the baseless accusations and conspiracy theories emitted by Islamic authorities. Neither Israel nor the international community should allow extremist bullying to endanger and destroy a treasure of immense national and international significance.