National police commissioner Yohanan Danino publicly criticized on Tuesday a new decision by the attorney general that gives permission to Knesset Member Moshe Feiglin to continue visiting the Temple Mount.
He also accused “right-wing extremists” of igniting the recent Arab riots and murderous attacks by trying to change the so-called Temple Mount status quo, a long-standing government policy that allows Jews to ascend the Temple Mount but prohibits them from praying there.
The Supreme Court has questioned whether the discrimination against Jews is legal, but no one has brought the issue to the justices for a ruling. It is likely that the police would argue that the prohibition is needed as a security measure.
Danino left no doubt on Tuesday where the police stand – as far away from the Temple Mount as possible.
He stated at the annual Sderot Conference Tuesday that anyone who says that status quo should be changed “influences one billion Muslims in the world.”
His concern for Muslims is remarkable.
Public Security Minister Yitzchak Aharonovitch stated earlier this month that Knesset Members should not go on the Temple, and he also blamed them for violence, It is not the fault of Arab attackers that they pick up meat cleavers, knives and guns to kill Jews while they pray n a synagogue. It is the fault of the Jews for saying that they should be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount.
Perhaps the police commissioner and his boss would like Jews to change their prayers and not stop beseeching God for the Third Temple.
If the Jews simply would behave as the Muslims tell them to behave and stop making a big deal out of going to the holy site, the Arab world would thank Israel and stop killing Jews.
Arabs would not even dream of violence if Jews would stop dreaming about the Third Temple. All of those eastern Jerusalem murderers and all of the rioters would have stayed home and enjoyed their hookahs.
If Danino things that anyone who wants to change the status quo is a “right-wing extremist,” then he is including Feiglin and Housing Minister Uri Ariel.
In his words today, “Anyone who wants to change the status quo on the Temple Mount should be prohibited from going there.”
The tactic of labeling someone a “right-wing extremist” is very effective. It places them outside the pale and makes them enemies of law and order.
Whenever Israel’s establishment media and political leaders want to oppose something, all they have to do is say that “right-wing extremists” are behind it.
As for Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein’s decision to allow Feiglin to visit the Temple Mount, Danino said it was a “mistake,” and Feiglin called on Danino to retract his statement.
“Perhaps Danino thinks the Temple Mount needs not be in our hands,” Feiglin stated. “He [Danino] is running away from his responsibility. His job is to protect Israeli sovereignty and calm on the Temple Mount.”
It is safe to assume that Danino thinks that if Jews who want to change the status quo would stay off the Temple Mount, there would be calm.
But judging by police tactics that harass Jews who simply want to visit the Temple Mount, without doing anything so radical as to pray there, Danino would be very happy to give the Muslims a long-term lease on the holy site and let Jews simply pray in their synagogues, even if they dare stir up trouble for one million Muslims by praying for the Third Temple .
That way, the police can go back to patrolling the streets, except for those in eastern Jerusalem, where those right-extremists Jews upset Arabs by living there.