The woman went up to the Temple Mount to pray on two occasions. After breaking the rules of the site banning prayer both times, police approached her. She rioted, threatened to hurt one of them and even wished cancer upon them.
The defendant's attorney requested from Mandelblit that the indictment be canceled due to the defendant's difficult life situation as a single mother of two children who has dealt with PTSD for years since she was raped. Mandelblit decided to accept the request.
"We welcome the decision. This is a single mother who went through and deals with severe trauma," said public defender Rita Tahori, who represents the defendant, according to KAN. The woman was warned against committing further crimes, as the attorney-general could then consider renewing the legal proceedings.
Visits by religious Jews to the Temple Mount are monitored by Waqf guards and Israeli police – and all Jewish prayer, including silent prayer, is forbidden, according to the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. No sacred Jewish objects, such as prayer books or prayer shawls, may be brought onto the mount, according to the tourism website Tourist Israel.The Jerusalem Post revealed at the end of 2019 that Jewish visitors to the site had started praying undisturbed by police forces. As of the end of December, police officers continued to allow Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, according to Jewish visitors to the site.The site was closed in March to prayer due to the coronavirus outbreak. The site is expected to reopen to Muslim worshipers this week.