Jewish and Christian worshipers sing and pray at Temple Mount in memory of Charlie Kirk

An eclectic mix of Jews and Christians visited the Temple Mount on Wednesday afternoon to sing and pray in remembrance of American conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated last week.

The dozens of worshipers were led throughout the Temple Mount complex by former Likud lawmaker Yehuda Glick, a longtime advocate for Jewish prayer at the flashpoint site, who himself was the target of an assassination attempt over a decade ago.

“We are seven days after the assassination of the dear, late Charlie Kirk. And we’re also seven days before the day of coronation, the day that the world stops, blows the shofar, and announces the kingdom of God,” said Glick before the group set out, referencing the fast-approaching Rosh Hashanah holiday. “There is no better time in my eyes than now to be here.”

Kirk, who was shot dead while speaking at a college in Utah, founded the right-wing youth organization Turning Point USA. He was mourned as a champion of pro-Israel causes by several politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after he visited the country multiple times and regularly defended it against critics.

The tour group burst into the Temple Mount complex while singing verses from Psalms, with police flanking them on both sides. Organizers were upfront about their intentions, with Glick stating plainly to participants: “We are here to pray.”

The participants sang and worshiped, with some even fully prostrating themselves on the ground without police intervention, despite a formal ban on Jewish prayer under the eroding status quo at the holy site, which allows only Muslims to worship freely.

Walking backwards while speaking to the tour group, Glick recalled the 2014 assassination attempt on him by a Palestinian assailant at the Temple Mount Conference at Jerusalem’s Menachem Begin Center. “In my case it was four bullets, point blank,” said Glick.

He was hospitalized for weeks, having to undergo nine surgeries and extensive physical therapy to recover from the shooting.

“What is the difference between assassination and terror? An assassin is directing his bullets against somebody in particular.” Those who are targeted by assassins are those “who have a truth, have a faith, and there are people listening to them,” Glick said, calling Kirk one of those people.

Discussing Kirk’s killing, Glick described assassins as “weak people, who don’t have any other language except for violence. They have no other way to challenge the ability of someone who speaks up and has a following.”

He called for Kirk’s videos to be amplified, so that his voice will be heard “louder and clearer by many more people.” The fact that was assassinated doesn’t mean that everything Kirk said was true, but he fought for truth,” Glick said.

‘Change afoot’

Unlike most of the Jewish participants in the hour-long tour, who were mostly veteran Temple Mount activists, many Christian participants were visiting the holy site for the first time.

Ted and Karen Noland, American Christians who traveled to Israel to volunteer for IDF soldiers and Israelis in need, told The Times of Israel that they jumped at the opportunity to join a tour of the Temple Mount in the conservative activist’s memory.

“When it [the assassination] happened, we were here [in Israel] already. My son, who is an uber fan of Charlie Kirk and knows that I am as well, messaged me and said he had just been shot,” Karen said. “Immediately, I began to pray.”

Ted said he was immensely thankful to have had the opportunity to go up to the Temple Mount, confessing that he kneeled and prayed at the site.

“You can see change afoot,” he added. “Things are changing and every time we come to Israel we’re more and more overwhelmed and hopeful, hopeful for the future between Christians and Jews.”

That sentiment was echoed by several longtime activists for Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount.

Gidon Ariel, an activist who promotes friendly relations between pro-Israel Christians and Jews, said that a major shift took place after the Tisha B’Av fast day last year, when masses of Jews came to pray atop the holy site.

He told participants that around 50-60,000 Jews have gone up to the Temple Mount this year so far.

“With your help and with your prayers, we are getting closer and closer to that redemptive time. The connection between Jews and Christians who love the God of Israel is also something growing very much now,” he said.

Speaking to The Times of Israel, Ariel said he believes that most police quietly support Jewish prayer atop the Temple Mount, allowing for a quick shift which has taken place these past couple years.

Throughout the complex, particularly near the eastern wall, Jewish pilgrims in several groups held prayers in plain sight, clearly visible to security forces. As visitors drew closer to the Dome of the Rock, police became more vigilant and tried to keep people from gazing at the gold-plated building while moving their lips.

That did not stop Glick and his group from ascending the stairs to the shrine to the closest point where Jewish tour groups are permitted, joining hands and chanting “the time has come.”

The Temple Mount, which was the site of the ancient Jewish Temples and now houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, has been one of the most volatile flashpoints in the Middle East.

Since first receiving the national security portfolio in 2022, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has continuously asserted that his policy is to allow Jewish prayer atop the Temple Mount, flouting the status quo, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has insisted remains in place.

This past Tisha B’Av, which marks the destruction of the temples, Ben Gvir led a group of Jewish worshipers in prayer at the complex, the first time that a government minister has overtly worshipped there.