Likud MK provokes again with Dome of the Rock pic

Just days after MK Oren Hazan made headlines by stealing a selfie with US President Donald Trump on the red carpet at Ben Gurion Airport, the controversial lawmaker had himself photographed Thursday — the day after Jerusalem Day — appearing to lift the golden roof off the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount.

The dome — one of Jerusalem’s most iconic sites — covers a site venerated by Muslims as the launchpad for Muhammad’s nocturnal journey to heaven and by Jews as the place where Abraham tried to sacrifice his son Isaac.

In the latest photograph, uploaded to his Facebook page, Hazan assumes a pose commonly taken by tourists to create the optical illusion he is holding the dome between his fingers.

Facebook responses to the post varied from encouragement — “You’re right that it’s time to remove it from there,” says one — to criticism that Hazan is trying to provoke in order to win more “likes.”

At the red carpet reception for Trump on his Monday arrival to Israel, Hazan pushed his way through the line of dignitaries to snatch a selfie with the president. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached out and tried to move Hazan’s arm, but to no avail.

Hazan later posted the picture on his Facebook page with the caption, “Thank you Mr. President — it was my pleasure!”

The move was roundly criticized by Israeli officials who said Hazan had acted inappropriately.

No stranger to controversy, Hazan’s posed Temple Mount photo risks inflaming one of Israel’s most incendiary issues.

The location of the Jewish temples, the Temple Mount is the most important site in Judaism. It is also the location of Islam’s third holiest shrine, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which stands close to the Dome of the Rock.

Israel captured the Temple Mount and the rest of the Old City and East Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967, and extended sovereignty there, but it left administrative authority atop the Mount in the hands of the Jordanian Waqf (Muslim trust), and instituted a status quo agreement that sees Jews permitted to visit but not pray there.

The Palestinians have accused Israel of attempting to change the status quo at the holy site, pointing to the growing numbers of Jewish visitors. Israel firmly denies the allegations, which many Palestinian attackers have cited as their motivation during a wave of violence and terror attacks against Israelis that began in the fall of 2015.