WASHINGTON/OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (Agencies)
The United States on Monday took strong exception to Palestinian criticism of Israel's reopening of a landmark Jerusalem synagogue, saying the remarks would worsen tensions.
Rival Palestinian factions united in condemning the high-security opening of the synagogue, which had been destroyed 62 years ago in fighting with Jordan in the Holy City's walled Old City.
Israel said the synagogue should symbolize religious tolerance.
In a video message because he was unable to attend personally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the synagogue brought a message of coexistence.
"Falsification of history"
" We are deeply disturbed by statements made by several Palestinian officials mischaracterizing the event in question, which can only serve to heighten the tensions we see "
Philip Crowley, U.S. State Department"We are deeply disturbed by statements made by several Palestinian officials mischaracterizing the event in question, which can only serve to heighten the tensions we see," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters.
"We call upon Palestinian officials to put an end to such incitement," he said, without singling out officials by name.
Crowley weighed in on the issue without prompting at the daily press briefing, although he denied that the United States was trying to balance out its recent reprimands of close ally Israel.
Palestinian rivals the secular Fatah and Islamist Hamas were united in their condemnation of the move.
Exiled Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal slammed it as "a falsification of history," and warned it could cause the Middle East to "explode."
Hamas also declared Tuesday a "day of rage and alarm" and called on Arabs and Muslims to "come to the aid of Jerusalem and al-Aqsa."
Israel's chief Rabbis Yona Metzger affixes a mezuzah to the door post of the Hurva synagogue"Israel is playing with fire and touching off the first spark to make the region explode," he said.
Republicans in Congress have lashed out at the Obama administration for its pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end settlements, accusing it of jeopardizing the security of the Jewish state.
Hatem Abdul Qader, who oversees Jerusalem affairs for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah, said that the synagogue "will be a prelude to violence, extremism and religious fanaticism" on the part of Israel.
Opening ceremony
" Israel is playing with fire and touching off the first spark to make the region explode "
Hamas leader Khaled MeshaalThe ceremony was attended by parliament speaker Reuven Rivlin, ministers and the chief rabbis of Israel.
Yona Metzger, the Ashkenazi chief rabbi, placed at the entrance of the synagogue a mezuza -- the parchment scroll inscribed with a verse from the Torah and placed in a case which Jewish families hang on door frames.
Monday's ceremony came as Israel barred men under the age of 50 and non-Muslims from entering al-Aqsa mosque compound for a fourth day running after clashes between police and Palestinians in and around the site.
Al-Aqsa compound is Islam's third holiest site after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. It is also Judaism's holiest site because it was the location of the Second Temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
The synagogue was first built in 1694 and destroyed 21 years later by Ottoman authorities who held power at the time.
The site lay empty for many years and acquired the name "Hurva," Hebrew for ruin, before being rebuilt in 1864 and becoming a centre for the Jewish community in the Holy Land.
It was blown to pieces in 1948, after Jordan captured the Old City from the newly established state of Israel, during the battle for control of Jerusalem.
The synagogue's latest incarnation is the result of a $20-million (15-million-euro) government-funded restoration project.
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