Jews pose as Muslims to enter Temple Mount, are stopped

Police on Tuesday detained two Jewish men who attempted to enter Jerusalem’s contentious Temple Mount compound in the guise of Muslim worshipers.

The two, both aged 21, approached one of the gates to the holy site wearing traditional religious Muslim garb. After they raised the suspicions of nearby police, an officer approached the pair and asked them for identification.

Despite claiming they were Muslim Palestinians, a statement from police said the on-duty officers soon determined the pair were in fact Israeli Jews.

A statement from police did not indicate if they belonged to Jewish activist groups barred from the site. It was not clear why the two felt the need to disguise themselves.

Under an agreement between the Israeli government and Islamic authorities at the site, Jews are allowed to visit but not pray at the site, which is revered as the location of both ancient Jewish temples.

The site is so holy that Jews have traditionally refrained from praying on the hilltop, congregating instead at the adjacent Western Wall, a retaining wall of the ancient temple complex, which has become the top holy spot for Jewish prayer.

Jewish visitors suspected of violating the Temple Mount prayer ban are routinely arrested by police.

Clashes between Palestinian youths and Israeli security forces erupted at the compound in September amid fears among Muslims that Israel was planning to change rules governing the site.

Muslims regard the compound — which today houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, known in Arabic as the Holy Sanctuary — as the third-holiest site in Islam.

Israel has repeatedly denied there are any such plans.

The clashes preceded a wave of Palestinian terrorism and violence, including stabbing, shooting and vehicular ramming attacks that have killed 29 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese since October 1 last year. Some 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security forces in this period, most of them while carrying out attacks, according to Israeli officials.

Israel captured the Temple Mount, site of the biblical temples, from Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed the area, but it left Jordanian religious authorities in charge of the Muslim holy sites there. While Israel controls access to the holy site, Jews are barred from praying there.

Israel and Jordan recently agreed to install video cameras throughout the compound in a bid to ease tensions.Though US Secretary of State John Kerry announced the video surveillance plan during a visit to Amman last year, disputes between Israel and Jordan over who controls the footage and what the cameras may or may not film are reportedly holding up the project.

AP contributed to this report.