Photo Credit: Jewish Press

Eldest son of the late Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, Rav Shmuel called for an end to the “disgrace” on the Mount, and said that Jewish visitors must be protected more actively. “The number of Torah-observant visitors is increasing,” the rabbi told the police representatives at the session, “and the questions I receive indicate that this rate will continue. I ask you: Please protect my children and my students!”

“Even at my own Sabbath table,” he said, “we have dynamic discussions about whether to visit the holy site. Half of my children do so.” He confirmed to the panel that his father, a former chief Sephardic rabbi of Israel, had called for the construction of a synagogue on the Temple Mount.

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The violent events in Jerusalem, and especially the threats of violence on the Temple Mount, emphasize the tenuous hold Israel has over the holy city of Yerushalayim. It appears that nearly every international development has the potential of causing a diplomatic avalanche that could end with a serious worldwide call for Jerusalem to be internationalized, split, or otherwise relieved of its exclusive Jewish sovereignty. This, of course, would be a tragedy for generations, and the Jewish nation around the world must be constantly vigilant – and proactive – to ensure that this not happen.

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Chaim Silberstein is president of Keep Jerusalem-Im Eshkachech and the Jerusalem Capital Development Fund. He was formerly a senior adviser to Israel's minister of tourism. Hillel Fendel is the former senior editor of Arutz-7. For bus tours of the capital, to take part in Jerusalem advocacy efforts or to keep abreast of KeepJerusalem's activities, e-mail [email protected].