In an
article by Rayhan Uddin in the Middle
East Eye, Israeli Minister
Ben Gvir says, “If I could do what I wanted, a synagogue would…be established
on the Temple Mount.” There have been mixed responses to Gvir’s
statement. Uddin points out that the office of Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu recently said that there are no plans to change the “status quo” on
the Temple Mount. Uddin adds that some Israeli ministers and politicians
were critical of Gvir’s remarks, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and
Interior Minister Moshe Arbel. However, not all agree with their
criticism. In 7Israel National News, Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, founder of the Temple
Institute, claims there was some support among the Chief Rabbinate Council in
2000 for a Jewish synagogue on the Temple Mount. However, Sephardi
Chief Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron
is to have argued that the majority of the council was against building a
synagogue on the Temple Mount for religious reasons.
With
all that being said, there are those
who argue against the “status quo” and
for Jewish freedom to pray on the Temple Mount. In a recent opinion
piece, Michael
Freund insists there is no
Temple Mount “status quo” because the Wakf and Palestinians trampled it. Jeremy
Sharon reports that Israeli
Police have been allowing Jewish worshipers to prostrate and pray on the east
side of the Temple Mount in recent weeks; this practice is said to have begun
around 2018 but has increased since August 13, 2024.
 |
| Jewish worshippers prostrate themselves on the Temple Mount during a prayer service at the holy site, August 28, 2024. (Jeremy Sharon/Times of Israel) |
No comments:
Post a Comment