Activists to court: 50 Muslims can pray on Temple Mount, why not 50 Jews?
Activist Itamar Ben-Gvir succeeded at getting the High Court to agree that Jewish rights were being infringed, but the justices did not seem to want to weigh in.
By YONAH JEREMY BOBTHE DOME of the Rock, situated on the Temple Mount – the ‘world’s atomic reactor.’(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
The High Court of Justice appeared ready at a Monday hearing to defer to the state about limiting Jewish access to the Temple Mount for the foreseeable future of the coronavirus crisis.Activist Itamar Ben-Gvir succeeded at getting the High Court to agree that Jewish rights were being infringed, but the justices did not seem to want to weigh in on an area where the state said sensitive foreign affairs interests were involved.Ben-Gvir demanded to know, “if 50 Muslims can pray on the Temple Mount, why not 50 Jews?”Last week, the state tried to skirt the issue with the High Court asking for a closed session hearing.On May 6, the High Court had ordered the state to respond to a petition claiming that the government cut a deal with Jordan to keep Jews off the Temple Mount for the duration of the coronavirus crisis.The state said, “due to the sensitivity [of the matter]... which has implications for the national security and foreign affairs of the state,” it requested a closed-door hearing.The state tried to portray the situation as one in which both Arab and Jewish worshipers are not being allowed on the Temple Mount, other than 50 Waqf staff members who it said are essential for maintenance.Further, the state said that if some of these 50 staff members prayed while on the Temple Mount, this was incidental to their duties.Finally, the state said that it could not even allow a small number of Jews to ascend the Temple Mount due to corona considerations.However, multiple times it hinted that there were additional factors that were part of the picture, which it would only reveal to the court in a closed session.
According to Yehuda Etzion and journalist Arnon Segal, the government cut a secret deal with Jordan to keep both Arabs and Jews off of the Temple Mount during the corona period.Many religious sites around the world were closed due to the coronavirus crisis. However, at some later date, the petitioners claim that Jordan’s Waqf was allowed on the Temple Mount, while Jews are still banned.The petitioners said that banning Jews while allowing Arabs was unconstitutional. Further, they said that banning Segal was a violation of freedom of the press.In regular times, there are limits on where Jews can be on the Temple Mount and what activities they can undertake there, but a complete ban would be unusual other than for a very finite period when there is a spike in the Israeli-Arab conflict surrounding the holy site.Ben-Gvir said last week, “now the cat is out of the bag,” implying that the state’s refusal to publicize its policy is an admission of the secret deal with Jordan.
