It seems that cracks are appearing in the Haredi consensus, which used to be firmly against setting foot on Temple Mount, for fear of violating the holiest Jewish site. According to Maariv, Rabbi Meir Mazuz, head of yeshiva Kisseh Rachamim (Seat of Mercy) in B’nei B’rak, has responded to a public question on his institutions’ official website with the psak (decision): “min hadin mutar” – meaning that it is legally permitted. However, he said that one must restrict one’s movements on Temple Mount to the areas which are not problematic.

The entrance to the Temple before the destruction was restricted to Jews who had cleansed themselves of the impurity of the dead, a 7-day process requiring two sprayings with water containing the ashes of a red heifer. Since we are no longer in possession of these means, we are unable to cleanse our impurity and so, should we set foot on an area where the holy sacrifices were being made, or, even worse, the holiest sanctuary, we would be defiling them.

But there are today many religious-Jewish experts who offer clear instructions as to where the “safe” area for walking is, mostly the perimeter of the compound.

Rabbi Mazuz’s decision comes a scant few months after the passing of Rav Ovadia Yosef, who staunchly objected to Jewish ascent to Temple Mount. Rabbi Mazuz’s stature in the Sefardi Haredi community might usher in a new era in mainstream religious Jewish approach to the Temple Mount.

Rabbi Mazuz is considered one of the senior Sefardi rabbis in the world, but has always been to the right of the late Rav Ovadia. He was actively opposed to the Gush Katif deportations, including adding his name to the list of rabbis who at the time called on IDF soldiers to refuse an order to evacuate.

Needless to say, Shas, the Haredi Sefardi party which may suffer a setback come next elections due to the passing of Rav Ovadia, is not happy with the public defiance being shown by Rabbi Mazuz these days. Their spokesman has already criticized the Rabbi’s decision, and the question Shas seems to fear is not so much about Temple Mount but about the possibility of dissent in the Sefardi ranks over more critical issues, like politics.

Is the Temple Mount in Israel’s hands? If the nationalist Knesset members don’t provide the answer, the Arab MKs will do so in their place.

Who is the sovereign on the Temple Mount? Official Israeli claims, of course, are that it is the sovereign. But in practice, the sovereignty is being transferred to Jordan – both on the ground and by ignoring international treaties that are being signed behind Israel’s back.

According to the Jordanian foreign minister, “An agreement was signed last year between King Abdullah and the president of the Palestinian Authority, Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas]. The agreement endorses the historic, existing situation regarding the Hashemite control of the holy places.” He added that Jordan’s control over the Mount enjoys an international consensus. “The entire world and all the religions accept the existing reality,” he said. (Translated from the Hebrew in a February 19 NRG article.)

When I found out that an agreement had been signed to transfer the Temple Mount from the Palestinian Authority to Jordan, I asked Prime Minister Netanyahu how it could be that Israel was not reacting? Would you also be quiet, I asked him, if a second party would sell your house to a third party? After all, it is clear that Israel’s silence in the face of this agreement, publicized throughout the world, is really its tacit approval.

Replying on behalf of the Israeli government, Agriculture Minister Yair Shamir said the following: “Israel is the sovereign in Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount. It administers the most holy place for Jews while considering the fact that the site is holy for Muslims as well, and on the basis of its commitment in the peace agreement with Jordan, in which it was stipulated that ‘Israel respects the special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in the places holy to Muslims in Jerusalem.’ Nothing less than that, but also nothing more. It has nothing to do with the agreement signed between Jordan and the PA – an agreement that does not bind Israel. That is all.”

Here’s my answer to Yair Shamir: “I did not receive an answer to my third question: What about Israel? I presume that if I would sell the honorable minister’s home to his neighbor, the honorable minister would oppose the move. We did not hear any voice of opposition from the Israeli government or from the prime minister of Israel over the fact that the Palestinian Authority decided to transfer the sovereignty on the Temple Mount to Jordan. Does the honorable minister, in the name of the government of Israel, say clearly now from the podium of the Knesset of Israel that the government of Israel sees itself as sovereign on the Mount and any agreement transferring the sovereignty from a second party to a third party is null and void? Am I correct, honorable minister?”

I did not receive a clear answer. That is why it is so important for the Knesset’s Jewish members to have its say on the issue of sovereignty over the Temple Mount. Jordanian pressure is taking its toll, presumably translated into pressure that ends up being exerted upon the nationalist Knesset members. If, God forbid, the Jewish MKs do not have their say, the Arab MKs will be able to pass any legislative measure they wish – with all the implications of that eventuality.

Forty-seven years after our paratroopers liberated the Mount with their blood and shouted “The Temple Mount is in our hands,” the question arises: Will our Jewish MKs have the courage to repeat that sentence in the Knesset?
This article originally appeared in Hebrew in Makor Rishon.

A group of 25 Jews went up to visit the Temple Mount on Sunday morning, only to find themselves harassed by Waqf officials, and rushed off the Jewish holy site by police, scared that the Arabs might become violent.

In the video, the scared policeman is asking the Jewish visitors to not get the Arabs too worked up – as if.

Video taken by Yehuda Glick

The Lower House of the Jordanian parliament voted Wednesday to expel the Israeli ambassador from the country as a protest to the Knesset’s having the audacity to debate the status of the Temple Mount.

In addition, 47 of the 150 legislators in the House signed a resolution that the peace treaty with Israel should be torn up and thrown away.

“The motion came in response to Israel’s actions in Jerusalem and to the Knesset debate of a law that seeks to impose Israel’s sovereignty over al-Aqsa,” the Al-Rai newspaper quoted MPs as saying in the motion.

“Israel’s actions clearly violate the peace treaty… it is aggression against Jordanian custodianship,” the motion said.

Certainly, if Israel violates the peace treaty, harsh action is warrant. Flagrantly inciting rage by even discussing the idea of a Jew praying on the Temple Mount, home of the Al Aqsa mosque, is hard evidence for condemning Israel from the depths of the Quran.

So let’s take a look at the peace treaty that Israel has so disgustingly violated.

The reference to the Temple Mount is implied in Article 9, entitled “Places of Historical and Religious Significance and Interfaith Relations.

The first clause states, “Each Party will provide freedom of access to places of religious and historical significance.” That kind of puts a giant hole in the Jordanian legislators claim that Israel has violated the peace treaty. Of course, they could always fall back on the Arab world’s fattest lie that has made the imams look even more ridiculous – that the Jewish Holy Temples never existed, that the Bible is a Zionist work of fiction and that the Western Wall’s only religious significance is that Mohammed hitched has horse there, without even paying for the parking spot.

The next clause states, “In this regard, in accordance with the Washington Declaration, Israel respects the present special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Muslim Holy shrines in Jerusalem. When negotiations on the permanent status will take place, Israel will give high priority to the Jordanian historic role in these shrines.”

So far, the term “permanent status” can be ascribed only to peace talks. They have become such a fixture for diplomats and  journalists that they are going to be sorry if  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry ever gives up. He probably won’t, because then he would not have anything to keep him busy. Syria, Iran, Egypt, Sudan, China – they are small potatoes for him. He can wrap up those problems in a day or two.

Clause number 3 states, “The Parties will act together to promote interfaith relations among the three monotheistic religions, with the aim of working towards religious understanding, moral commitment, freedom of religious worship, and tolerance and peace.”

Lovely.

The Jordanian parliament thinks that the Knesset debate, initiated by Knesset Member Moshe Feiglin, should not be about freedom of religious worship. It thinks that “working towards…peace” means expelling the Israeli ambassador. One third of them think peace means breaking the peace treaty, and all of this because the Knesset talked about Jews praying on the Temple Mount.

The truth is that Jews prayed on the Temple Mount way back when, not only 2,000 years ago but also 45 years ago. No one said “boo” because the Arabs and Jews were at peace. The Arabs had been freed from the rule of Jordan, an occupation that never was authorized by the United Nations. They were neglected as second-class citizens, and Arab villages in Judea and Samaria were left to eat the crumbs that Amman left behind.

After the Six-Day War, The Arabs – pardon the expression – never had it so good. Israel opened up all holy sites to all religions, Israelis traveled and shopped freely in Judea and Samaria, and tourism flourished.

Knesset Member Moshe Feiglin may have single-handedly ditched  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s framework on Tuesday by brining to the Knesset floor a debate on the prohibition against  Jews praying on the Temple Mount.

In advance of the historic debate, the first time the issue ever has been discussed on the floor of the legislature, Arabs rioted and threw rocks at police, who dispersed them with stun grenades and tear gas and arrested three rioters. The violence forced the closure of the Temple Mount to Jews and tourists. Score one for the Muslims.

In Jordan, opposition leaders called on the monarchy to tear up the peace treaty with Israel.

The Temple Mount is the most untalked about core issue in the so-called negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The “status of Jerusalem” is a known basic issue, but there is simply nothing for negotiators on both sides to talk about when it comes to the Temple Mount.

It evokes more emotions than all other issues combined. The Oslo War, popularly called the Second Intifada, erupted after Ariel Sharon ascended the Temple Mount in his campaign for Prime Minister  in 2000. The violence was due to happen in any event given the refusal of Yasser Arafat to accept then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s offer for almost all of Judea and Samaria and most of the areas of Jerusalem that had been occupied by Jordan between 1949 and the Six-Day War in 1967.

Arab riots on the Temple Mount have become more regular as the “peace process” comes closer to another death, following the death of the Oslo Accords and the Bush Roadmap, among other snake oil remedies..

The more Muslim clerics and Arab leaders claim that the Jewish Holy Temple never existed and that the Jews have no connection with the site, the more they are arming  themselves with hate and lies that spell “war.”

All it takes is MK Feiglin to set them off, and if Tuesday’s debate is his only accomplishment  in the current Knesset session, it will be far greater than almost all combined  acts of his 119 colleagues

Israel conveniently washed its hands of responsibility for the Temple Mount after the 1967 war and gave Jordan the right to be custodian through the Islamic Waqf.

Buoyed by the Chief Rabbinate prohibition of Jews praying or even ascending the Temple Mount because of several issues relating to Jewish law on the ruins of the Holy Temple, the Arab world tightened its enforcement against Jews trying to do so.

Many national religious rabbis allow Jews to walk on certain parts of the Temple Mount, and MK Feiglin has been doing so for years. He was barred from the Temple the past year until earlier this month, when he resumed his monthly habit of immersing in the Mikveh and visiting the holy site.

Prayers, of course are forbidden, lest Allah be upset over hearing the Shema Yisrael prayer. No prayer books are allowed, and police remove anyone who starts moving his lips. The Supreme Court has questioned the discrimination but has not issued any direct order that allows Jews to pray at the site.

Feiglin brought the issue to the Knesset after having easily secured the required signatures of 30 Knesset Members to debate the issue.

Tuesday’s discussion, was a debate and nothing more and nothing less, but it was more than enough for the Arab to press the riot button.

Arab MKs in boycotted the discussion, which may have been their best strategy since anything they say makes them look even dumber than they are.

The Arab paranoia of Jews ascending the Temple Mount stems from the same attitude that prompted Jordan to ban Jews from all holy sites in the Old City of Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria until the War in 1967.

On Wednesday, for the first time in a year, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, Moshe Feiglin was allowed to go up to the Temple Mount and pray, after having been forbidden to go up to the holy site by Prime Minister Netanyahu a year ago.

The visit was done under heavy police guard.

The Waqf and Arabs on the Jewish holy site did not cause any disruptions or violence, for a change.

Moshe Feiglin said, “I see my ascension to the Temple Mount as the first step towards returning full Israeli sovereignty to the Temple Mount. The Israeli police proved that when they receive the correct orders they are able to properly fulfill them.”

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein helped mediate with the police to make Feiglin’s visit possible.

This coming Tuesday, the Knesset will be discussing the issue of Israeli sovereignty on the Temple Mount.

Feiglin hopes that the Knesset will send a clear message that Jews should be allowed to go up the Temple from any gate.

Jews are currently banned from praying on the Temple Mount, when they are allowed to even go up.

The police also routinely harass and arrest religious Jews who go up to the Temple Mount.

Israel may try to assume more control over Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, Minister of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs Naftali Bennett and told leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations in the capital on Monday.

He said his office has taken steps to exercise greater Israeli sovereignty over eastern Jerusalem, Haaretz reported.

Among the steps, he said, is providing better services to the Arab residents of eastern Jerusalem.

In addressing the issue of the Temple Mount, Bennett reportedly said, “Unfortunately, the Temple Mount today doesn’t allow for the full exercise of freedom of religion, and there is discrimination against Jews there. But we have to be very careful when dealing with the Temple Mount because of the huge sensitivity of the site.”

The Temple Mount is under the control of the Islamic Wakf.

Bennett’s speech came a day after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told a group of visiting Israeli students that he would not be willing to share sovereignty over the Temple Mount but would allow Jews to worship at the Western Wall, one of Judaism’s holiest sites.

On Sunday, lawmakers in Jordan threatened to shut down the country’s embassy in Tel Aviv and expel Israel’s ambassador to Amman if Israeli lawmakers drafted a law to end the Wakf’s authority over Muslim and Christian holy places in Jerusalem, calling it a breach of the Jordan-Israel peace treaty.

A Knesset plenum debate on “the loss of Israeli sovereignty on the Temple Mount” is scheduled for Tuesday.

The Ohr Samayach yeshiva, widely known as a magnet for English speakers who want to come closer to Judaism, won approval from Jerusalem on Wednesday to build a 12-story yeshiva in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Shimon HaTzaddik (Simon the Just), known to Arabs as Sheikh Jarrah.

The Jerusalem Planning and Building Committee approved the plan by a narrow 4-3 vote, with the expected strong opposition from the left-wing Meretz members of the City Council. The Planning Department reportedly objected to the project because of its proximity to the city’s light rail line and to hotels as well as Muslim character of the predominantly Arab neighborhood.

The building will not displace any Arabs and will be built on an empty plot near Ohr Samayach’s existing yeshiva. Three of the floors will be underground.

The idea of Jews living in areas of Jerusalem that the Palestinian Authority claims is “theirs” because it was once occupied illegally by Jordan scratches the international community’s skin, but the notion of allowing a yeshiva to expand to teach Torah there undoubtedly will bare the true blood of anti-Semitism.

The world’s diplomatic offices are wallpapered with the 1947 Partition Plan as if that should be the basis for Israel’s future borders because that was the map, if the Arabs had not rejected it, that would have put Israel in the most defenseless position.

World ambassadors and the media establishment have a problem with Jews living there not because it is supposedly Arab land but rather because they cannot accept Jews acting as Jews and learning and teaching Torah.

The headlines on Thursday will speak of “fanatic Jews” planning to teach their radical views on Palestinian land.

Teaching Torah in Shimon HaTzaddik or Sheikh Jarrah, call it what you will, is a death threat to the Big Lie that the anti-Semitic world promotes.

That is why the Palestinian Authority and the entire Arab world are in a panic every time a Jew goes up on the Temple Mount and scream that the Jews have “stormed the Temple Mount” to destroy the Al Aqsa Mosque and build the Third Temple.

That is why Muslim clerics have to deny that the Holy Jewish Temple ever existed.

Jews? In Eastern Jerusalem? Maybe, but so long as they are good little Jews who are not fanatics who teach the foundations of Western civilization.