From the Liveblog of
Sunday, August 11, 2019
Erdan says record 1,729 Jews entered Temple Mount in one day
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan’s office says 1,729 Jews entered the Temple Mount today compared with 1,440 last year on Tisha B’Av, the fast day in which Jews mourn the destruction of the temples and other tragedies.
The number is a new record for a single day, though it should be noted that the visits today consisted of entering the holy compound and immediately being ushered by police officers towards another gate to exit it.
Erdan praises police for their work securing the flashpoint site, and adds that his policy has been to let any Jew and any visitor enter it — subject to a security assessment — and to “strengthen Israeli sovereignty on the mount.”
He says the number of Jews entering the Temple Mount has quadrupled in the last four years.
