From the Liveblog of
Sunday, September 8, 2024
Far-right MK visits Temple Mount despite warning Jewish prayer could trigger upsurge in violence
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Despite the security services reportedly warning that Palestinian anger over overt Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount threatens to trigger a major escalation of violence, MK Yitzchak Kroizer ascends to .the flashpoint religious site to pray.
According to Israel Nation News, the lawmaker, a member of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s far right Otzma Yehudit party, is accompanied by Rabbi Shimshon Elboim, the leader of the Temple Mount Administration activist movement.
Over the weekend, Channel 12 reported that the security establishment is concerned that Jewish prayer is now routinely tolerated by police despite the status quo that prohibits it.
Ben Gvir has said repeatedly in recent weeks and months that his policy is to formally allow Jewish prayer, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that the decades-old status quo remains in force.
למרות האזהרות של מערכת הביטחון, יו"ר סיעת עוצמה יהודית, ח"כ יצחק קרויזר עלה להתפלל בהר הבית, עם ראש מינהלת הר הבית הרב שמשון אלבוים ומפקד הר הבית רפ"ק גיא טל pic.twitter.com/hFCyDxkwRd
— חזקי ברוך (@HezkeiB) September 8, 2024
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