A special ministerial committee for the holy places has appointed an architect to try to devise a way for prayer services and archaeological excavations to be conducted at the Wailing Wall without interfering with each other. But until the architect makes his recommendations there will be neither at the site.
The problem arose when Orthodox Jews protested against excavations by archaeologists which have uncovered the hitherto hidden southern wall of what is reputed to have been Solomon’s Temple. The excavations have been going on since shortly after East Jerusalem was captured from Jordan in the Six-Day War despite demands from the Chief Rabbinate that the Wailing Wall area be restricted to religious observances. The ministerial committee was appointed to resolve the dispute.
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