Deputy FM wants Israeli flag on Temple Mount

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely tells Israel’s Knesset Channel that she “absolutely” would like to see the Israeli flag flying high over the Temple Mount compound in Jerusalem.

“It is the center of Israeli sovereignty, the capital of Israel, and the holiest place in Jerusalem,” says Hotovely, a member of Prime Minister (and acting foreign minister) Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.

Netanyahu has repeatedly asserted that Israel would not initiate any change in the status quo on the Temple Mount, rebuffing Palestinian accusations that have been fueling an ongoing wave of unrest in Israel and the West Bank.

בזמן שראש הממשלה מנסה לשכנע שאין ולא יהיה שינוי בסטטוס קוו בהר הבית הנה ציפי חוטובלי בראיון ל@NechamaDuek pic.twitter.com/24FRRfAOTt

— דפנה ליאל (@DaphnaLiel) October 26, 2015

— Times of Israel staff