Court upholds Temple Mount ban on activist Glick

The Jerusalem District Court rejected an appeal from Temple Mount activist Yehudah Glick on Thursday, ruling to uphold a restraining order barring him from the holy site.

Glick — who was the target of an assassination attempt in late October, and was recently released from the hospital — said he would bring another appeal to the Supreme Court.

The court said the restraining order would remain in effect until criminal charges against Glick are resolved.

In September, a Muslim woman on the Temple Mount filed charges against the rabbi for allegedly pushing her and breaking her arm.

Glick, who agitates for increased Jewish access to the site, including Jewish prayer there, has denied the allegations against him.

The court cited tensions on the Temple Mount as a key factor in its decision to keep the right-wing activist away.

“Taking into account the special sensitivities of the Temple Mount, the tension between the different groups, and on the backdrop of the difficult times we’re in, it seems no one can ensure that if a similar incident happens again, it would end with a broken arm, and not a large riot with many casualties,” the court wrote in its decision.

After the decision, Glick’s attorney lashed out at the judge, saying the court ignored the video testimony supporting Glick.

“Once again, the court is blaming the Jews for the Muslim violence, and Yehudah Glick is paying the price,” he said, according to the NRG news website. “The decision will be appealed to the Supreme Court.”

Glick was shot four times outside the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in central Jerusalem on the night of October 29, spurring officials to briefly close the the Temple Mount to both Jewish and Muslim visits amid a spike in tensions swirling around the sensitive holy site.

The activist regularly campaigns to open the site, known as Haram al-Sharif to Muslims, for Jewish prayer, currently banned under the status quo.

Israeli officials have vowed to keep the prohibition in place, though calls by some hard-line lawmakers to allow Jewish prayer have drawn harsh responses from the Muslim world.

Earlier this week, a hearing was held on the restraining order, and Glick sent a letter to back his position in lieu of attending, due to his medical condition.

In the letter, Glick said that keeping him away from the site would threaten his livelihood, and denied he was a danger to the public.

“For 25 years, since 1989, I have guided tours at the Temple Mount,” Glick wrote. “Until today, I have guided hundreds of groups, and thousands of participants. In the last few years, this has been my main source of income, and I have been doing tours sometimes three or four times a day,” he said.

Glick also appeared to admit that he had violated the restraining order since it was enforced.

“Since then I’ve gone up to the Temple Mount eight times, and at no point have I proved to be dangerous,” he said.

In an interview with The Times of Israel last month, Glick’s father said that his son had not even been at the site on the day of the purported scuffle.

“For instance, they accused him of pushing a Palestinian lady on the Temple Mount, resulting in her breaking her arm,” Shimon Glick said. “It turned out that Yehudah wasn’t even on the Temple Mount that day. He was in court on a different matter and there is proof of that. Besides, Yehudah never pushes anyone. That’s not his way,” he added.

Stuart Winer and Renee Ghert-Zand contributed to this report.