Photo Credit: Kobi Gideon / Flash 90
A Jewish bride visits the Western Wall next to the Temple Mount before her wedding. (archive)

Just after 11 am this morning (Thursday, July 30) Israel Police arrested a Jewish bride who ascended to the Temple Mount for a contemplative moment prior to her nuptials scheduled for later in the day.

The reason for the arrest is not yet clear.

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Police on the Mount are known to arrest Jews for “infractions” as specious as moving one’s lips, and whispering words which might appear to be prayers — or even might actually be prayers — even though the Supreme Court legally upheld the right for visitors to the site to pray.

Only Muslims have actually been allowed by security forces at the Temple Mount to pray, however, regardless of what the law says.

Authority over the Temple Mount, although technically overseen by Israel, is actually controlled by the Kingdom of Jordan via the Islamic Waqf Authority.

Rehavia Piltz, attorney for the bride, is allegedly on the way to the police precinct to request an expedited release so the bride will make it to her chuppah on time, according to Rotter.net.

The police have continued to routinely violate an Israeli law guaranteeing “freedom of worship” which is declared in the Declaration of Independence and among the nation’s set of Basic Laws.

Israel’s Supreme Court recently upheld the right of Jewish visitors to pray on the site, considered the holiest of all in Judaism. It is the third most holy in Islam.

Jerusalem Magistrate Court Judge Malka Aviv ruled in the first week of March of this year that the Israel Police ban on prayer at the site has been implemented “without appropriate consideration, was arbitrary and only out of concern for the consequences of the broadcast.” In addition, she wrote, “Police must make sure that Jews are allowed to pray on the Temple Mount.”

The decision was handed down in the case of Temple Mount activist Rabbi Yehuda Glick, founder and director of the Temple Mount Heritage Foundation. Glick was the target of an assassination attempt that nearly succeeded last October; he was shot by a radical Islamic terrorist four times at point-blank range after speaking at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center. He was shot for his continued activities in bringing the Temple Mount into the forefront of Israeli politics.

The rabbi challenged a two-year ban by Israel Police that barred him from entering the Temple Mount after he had been spotted on a Channel 10 broadcast praying on the site. He was represented by attorney Aviad Visoly.

Glick was awarded half a million shekels in compensation for losses to his livelihood – he leads tours on the Mount – and another NIS 150,000 in damages, to be paid by police.

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Hana Levi Julian is a Middle East news analyst with a degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from Southern Connecticut State University. A past columnist with The Jewish Press and senior editor at Arutz 7, Ms. Julian has written for Babble.com, Chabad.org and other media outlets, in addition to her years working in broadcast journalism.