TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH:

MKs want to probe Wakf for Mount dig
By DAN IZENBERG (Jerusalem Post)

The Knesset State Control Committee on Monday decided to ask the State Comptroller's Office to investigate procedures for allowing the Wakf Islamic trust to excavate on the Temple Mount, amid claims by archeologists that the laying of electric cables there in August endangered ancient artifacts.

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The committee accused the Antiquities Authority and its director-general, Shmuel Dorfman, of violating government regulations required for granting permission to the Wakf to carry out work that might harm archeological artifacts.

Dorfman acknowledged that he had not asked for permission from a ministerial committee established to oversee Temple Mount excavations, as required by the regulations. However, he and the Jerusalem District architect, Yuval Baruch, told the panel, "There was no damage to the remains of buildings or artifacts." Dorfman also said he had been more lenient regarding the terms of the excavation because it was the only way he could be sure the authority would be able to supervise the excavation.

Dorfman strongly denied allegations by a member of the archeologists' committee, Yisrael Caspi, that he had been ordered by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to give the Wakf permission to dig the trench.

"The prime minister did not speak to me," he told the State Control Committee. "No one spoke to me and no one forced me to agree."

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