Now that the current U.S.-brokered Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations are in trouble, Israelis can expect violent disturbances on the Temple Mount, initiated by angry Palestinians who are not willing to wait for peace with Israel. Palestinian leaders are already re-engaging in a diplomatic war against Israel due to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ decision to apply for the inclusion of “Palestine” in 15 international organizations and treaties. But, those tactics are nothing compared to what may soon happen in Jerusalem.
Jews are preparing for Passover, which begins on the eve of April 14. Last year, Member of the Knesset (MK) Moshe Feiglin was refused access to the Temple Mount on Passover. In previous years, religious Jews wishing to ascend the Mount were also refused access during this holiday. To the dismay of many who want to visit the Mount, Jews are subject to discrimination and humiliation by the Israeli police.
If the Palestinians decide to take out their aggressions this Passover, the Israeli police are guaranteed to remove Jews from the area. When compared with Muslim incitement on the Mount, the Jews are the path of least resistance. The Israeli government wants to keep the status quo, which means quiet at all costs.
Jeff Daube, Israeli Office Director of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) believes that “unfettered access and freedom to pray at a holy site is a basic, universally recognized right, which certainly should be accorded to Jews in the Jewish State of Israel.” Daube sees this as guaranteed under Israeli law. “We have to assert our rights wherever they are threatened. The Temple Mount is the last place on Earth where Jews should tolerate this type of discrimination.”
In February 2014, for the first time in Israel’s history, more than 30 MK’s met to discuss the loss of Israeli sovereignty on the Mount. It stirred up the Arab world. Soon after, there were violent disturbances which Daube believes were provoked and directed by the Palestinian Authority. He says this behavior is “animated and exacerbated by more than four decades of Israel’s refusal to assert its own sovereignty and rights there.”
Israeli citizens have been educated to yearn for engagement with God in prayer at the Western Wall rather than on the Temple Mount. During the week of Passover, thousands of Jews participate in the Birkat Kohanim ceremony at the Wall. The traditional Aaronic Benediction is said and the House of Israel is blessed. Israelis seem satisfied conducting the ceremony at the Wall and not on the Mount.
According to Daube, “There’s a question about exactly where the Jewish Temple’s Holy of Holies had been situated. That is hallowed ground which only the High Priest on Yom Kippur could walk on. Any Jew walking there is in violation, even if unknowingly, and many believe that carries a heavenly death penalty. While the ultra-Orthodox have taken the position that Jews may enter the Temple Mount area only once the Messiah comes, more and more religious nationalist rabbis have suggested Jews are permitted to walk everywhere on the Mount except where the Dome of the Rock stands – which they think is the Holy of Holies site. These rabbis encourage Jews to visit the Temple Mount often.”
Yet, they are not allowed to pray there. They are not even allowed to move their lips in prayer without being ousted by Muslim authorities.
This Passover, Jews, along with Christians, can expect the Israeli police to keep them off the Mount rather than deal with another round of Muslim disturbances..
Jeff Daube, Israeli Office Director of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) believes that “unfettered access and freedom to pray at a holy site is a basic, universally recognized right, which certainly should be accorded to Jews in the Jewish State of Israel.” Daube sees this as guaranteed under Israeli law. “We have to assert our rights wherever they are threatened. The Temple Mount is the last place on Earth where Jews should tolerate this type of discrimination.”
In February 2014, for the first time in Israel’s history, more than 30 MK’s met to discuss the loss of Israeli sovereignty on the Mount. It stirred up the Arab world. Soon after, there were violent disturbances which Daube believes were provoked and directed by the Palestinian Authority. He says this behavior is “animated and exacerbated by more than four decades of Israel’s refusal to assert its own sovereignty and rights there.”
Israeli citizens have been educated to yearn for engagement with God in prayer at the Western Wall rather than on the Temple Mount. During the week of Passover, thousands of Jews participate in the Birkat Kohanim ceremony at the Wall. The traditional Aaronic Benediction is said and the House of Israel is blessed. Israelis seem satisfied conducting the ceremony at the Wall and not on the Mount.
According to Daube, “There’s a question about exactly where the Jewish Temple’s Holy of Holies had been situated. That is hallowed ground which only the High Priest on Yom Kippur could walk on. Any Jew walking there is in violation, even if unknowingly, and many believe that carries a heavenly death penalty. While the ultra-Orthodox have taken the position that Jews may enter the Temple Mount area only once the Messiah comes, more and more religious nationalist rabbis have suggested Jews are permitted to walk everywhere on the Mount except where the Dome of the Rock stands – which they think is the Holy of Holies site. These rabbis encourage Jews to visit the Temple Mount often.”
Yet, they are not allowed to pray there. They are not even allowed to move their lips in prayer without being ousted by Muslim authorities.
This Passover, Jews, along with Christians, can expect the Israeli police to keep them off the Mount rather than deal with another round of Muslim disturbances..
