The Kingdom of Jordan, the custodian of the Muslim Trust that administers Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem, admonished Israel to remove additional security measures aimed at insuring the safety of those who worship on the Temple Mount – or Haram Al-Sharif to Muslims – in order to beef-up security. Tension soared last Friday when three Israeli Palestinians opened fire on the Temple Mount killing two policemen and wounding a third, and has remained acute during the week as Palestinians held raucous demonstrations that became violent confrontations with police, ostensibly because of opposition to Israel placing metal detectors at the entrances to the area. The Israelis see the magnetometers as a basic tool for keeping the peace while the Muslim world sees it as a change in the status quo by Israel, ‘proof’ that it seeks to “Juda-ize” the Islamic holy sites. During the week, Israeli officials stayed in close contact with Palestinian and Jordanian leaders including Jordan’s King Abdullah II in an effort to defuse the situation. But the true test will come on Friday, the holy day of the week, when thousands of Muslims typically flock to the area for prayer. Many are predicting an ugly scene when masses of demonstrators try to force their way onto the Mount, especially if Israeli security decides to keep the area closed altogether.