TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: Physicist Asher Kaufman's theory that the Temple was situated to the north of the Dome of the Rock is covered today in the Jerusalem Post ("Location, location, location"). This section clarifies his agenda:

I contacted Kaufman and he kindly offered to meet me in the quiet order of his home in the Beit Hakerem neighborhood. His soft Edinburgh accent, gentle manner and reasoned arguments are hard to reconcile with the final "proposals" he outlines at the end of his book.

The building of the Third Temple, he says, will be "something wonderful for the Jewish People, and for the world as a whole" – although he does not believe that ritual sacrifice will be reinstated.

Since he locates the Holy of Holies north of the Dome of the Rock, he believes the whole area of the Temple Mount could be divided into a Jewish and Muslim area, Al-Aksa Mosque being within the Moslem area.

The Dome of the Rock would be within the court of the Temple. "In ancient times, strangers other than of the Jewish faith were permitted entry into this court.... This means that there would be free access to the Dome of the Rock. It could be administered by the Muslims without any change."

As I've said before, I can't comment on the archaeological merits of his theory. But I have to say that I find what he says here naïve. I can't imagine that the Palestinian Authority would agree to anything like this arrangement and, for a change, I agree with them. There should be no more excavation on the Temple Mount, apart, perhaps, from scientific archaeological excavation. But even this (which is politically impossible at present anyway) should probably wait until there are less intrusive methods than the one currently available.