The Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

JNS.org – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the halting of construction work on a new bridge connecting the Western Wall plaza to the Temple Mount’s Mughrabi Gate, Israel Hayomreported.

The Mughrabi Gate is the only entrance to the Temple Mount that non-Muslims are permitted to use.

A decade ago, an earthen ramp that led to the Mughrabi Gate partially collapsed. It was never repaired, due to Jordanian and Turkish concerns that Israel was trying to change the status quo on the Temple Mount. Instead, a temporary wooden bridge was built.

Over the past five years, Netanyahu has delayed renovation of the temporary bridge. But two weeks ago, construction work on a new bridge began “without coordination with or approval from the prime minister, and therefore it was stopped,” officials in the Prime Minister’s Office said.