DIVIDING THE TEMPLE MOUNT MAKES GOOD SENSE

Declaration of War: Israel Considers Altering Temple Mount ‘Status Quo’

Muslim groups threaten “thunderous explosion” if Israel follows through with proposal for Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount.

 

By Dov Eilon 

 

Israel Today

Jun 9, 2023

 

View of the Dome of the Rock,

 

Hamas last night issued an official response to Israeli lawmaker Amit Halevi’s (Likud) proposal to change current policy on the Temple Mount. According to Halevi’s plan, the Temple Mount would be divided into Muslim and Jewish sections and control of the holy site by the Jordanian Waqf would end.

Halevi suggests that Muslims should continue to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque on the southern end of the complex. “If they pray there, it doesn’t make the entire Temple Mount a holy place for Muslims. It wasn’t and won’t be,” the politician said in an interview with the Israeli news portal Zman Israel. Halevi made it clear that the entire plateau is sacred to the Jews and the Dome of the Rock is where the Temple once stood.

 

Likud MK Amit Halevi proposes dividing Temple Mount between Jews and Muslims

 

 

In addition, regulations for Jews who want to enter the Temple Mount would be changed. Halevi demands that Jews, like Muslims, be allowed to enter the Temple Mount through any available gate, which has not been the case so far.

Threat of war

Hamas describes the plan as “aggression in an attempt to exert sovereignty over al-Aqsa in the context of the fascist occupation government’s religious war.” Palestinian terror groups also called the plan a “declaration of war” and threatened a “thunderous explosion.” Hamas called on the Palestinian people to tighten their grip on Al-Aqsa. An organization that identifies with the Palestinian cause even published a threat against Halevi’s life in connection with his plan.

For his part, Halevi explained that he made a habit of visiting the Temple Mount several times a year. Halevi last ascended on Jerusalem Day, when he came to the Temple Mount alongside two fellow Likud lawmakers, Dan Illouz and Ariel Kellner.