-Oz Rosenberg
Jerusalem Magistrate's Court Judge Malka Aviv said that the police should allow Jews to pray on the Temple Mount. The High Court of Justice has previously ruled that policy on the Temple Mount is the sole purview of the police. Police currently enforce a Muslim ban on Jewish prayer at the site, citing security concerns.
"There is room to allow for Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount," said the judge during a remand hearing for Hagai Weiss, who was arrested on suspicion of trying to pray at the site.
"The [police] explanation that Muslims don't approve of Jews praying on the Temple Mount cannot, in and of itself, prevent Jews from fulfilling their religious obligations and praying on the Temple Mount." She said Jewish prayer should be permitted on the Temple Mount "in a structured fashion, in a place designated for it," that would maintain the security of Jewish worshipers.
Israel gained control of the Temple Mount in the Six-Day War in 1967, but decided to leave the administration of the mount in the hands of the Jerusalem Wakf, or Islamic trust, which bans non-Muslim worship in the compound. Fifteen Jews have been arrested over the past few days for trying to pray on the Temple Mount.
(Ha'aretz)
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