Jerusalem grand mufti: Temple Mount never had Jewish Temple

“The policy of the Government of Israel regarding the Temple Mount was expressed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his statement Saturday night, and nothing has changed”.

“It is my dream to see the Israeli flag flying” over Al-Aqsa, she was quoted by Israeli media as saying ahead of the broadcast on parliament’s cable TV channel. Just hours after Israeli paratroopers took control of the Temple Mount, then-defense minister Moshe Dayan ordered the Israeli flag – which the soldiers had quickly raised – to be lowered.

Hotovely, who favors the annexation of the West Bank and opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state, has made public visits to the Temple Mount in recent years along with a handful of other right-wing Israeli lawmakers. “I am committed to the policy stated by the prime minister, who declared that we would not change the status quo”, she said.

Har Habayis at the heart of a controversy in Israel as well as a few attributing the increased Jewish presence on the hoy site for the current sharp increase in Islamic violence.

Zionist Union MK Yoel Hasson slammed Hotovely for her comments.

“With the stubbornness of a donkey, the messianic deputy minister continues to incite the entire Middle East”, he said.

“Recognizing the importance of the Temple Mount to peoples of all three monotheistic faiths – Jews, Muslims and Christians: Israel re-affirms its commitment to upholding unchanged the status quo of the Temple Mount, in word and in practice”. Israel has repeatedly denied the claims.

The 10th-century Muslim historian Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Shams al-Din al-Muqaddasi wrote in his description of Syria and Palestine that “in Jerusalem is the oratory of David and his gate; here are the wonders of Solomon and his cities”, and that the foundations of the Al-Aqsa Mosque “were laid by David”.

Hasson called for Hotovely’s dismissal from the government “for the sake of the security of Israel”.

We welcome increased coordination between the Israeli authorities and the Jordanian Waqf, including to ensure that visitors and worshippers demonstrate restraint and respect for the sanctity of the area, and all this in accordance with the respective responsibilities of the Israelis authorities and the Jordanian Waqf.