Beyadenu, a group dedicated to bringing Jews to the Temple Mount, on Tuesday reported a severe deterioration in the treatment of Jewish ascenders to the holiest place to Jews. This change to the worse of police behavior coincides with the three somber weeks between the 17th of Tamuz and the 9th of Av, which will culminate this Thursday.
Beyadenu pointed out that while in years past, internal government politics accounted for police mistreatment of Jews on the Temple Mount, in 2023, with a floor-to-ceiling right-wing coalition, there are no more excuses, and this right-wing government must be held accountable to the public for these police harassments.
The group published a list of police misbehavior toward Jewish visitors on the Temple Mount in the past week:
- Police stop Jewish visitors from stopping “at any point” for a brief prayer to pray on the Temple Mount
- Police push Jewish visitors to ascend and descend as quickly as possible, and don’t allow waiting groups to combine for efficiency’s sake, making sure they wait for a long time.
- When Jews pause for prayers that are permitted, police are ruthless in forcing them to rush and move along.
- Police regularly and unabashedly push the walking Jews physically to walk faster, which is very hard on some in the massive heatwave.
- Police penalize Jews for every minor infraction on the Temple Mount.
- Police inflict unnecessarily long wait times outside the only gate leading to the Temple Mount, with no shade during the heatwave.
- In the past week, police arrested 9 Jews and issued two of them restraining orders.
Can anyone contact the government minister in charge of the police? I Believe his name is Itamar something.
