Jerusalem rabbis call for mass protest over Temple Mount ‘harassment’

By Chaim Levinson

Religious Zionist rabbis have called for a mass demonstration in Jerusalem on Monday night to protest what they say is police harassment and an attempt to keep them away from the Temple Mount. The organizers want to stage the protest at the Old City wall’s Golden Gate and are arranging buses to bring in demonstrators from all over the country.

“Unfortunately, in recent years we have seen a decline in the realization of Jewish sovereignty in Jerusalem in general and on the Temple Mount in particular,” organizers said in a statement announcing the rally.

Rabbi Haim Druckman, a prominent figure in the religious Zionist movement, issued an open letter to encourage people to attend the rally and “declare their allegiance to Jerusalem and our Temple.”

Other religious leaders supporting the protest include Kiryat Arba’s chief rabbi, Dov Lior, and leading rabbis at several yeshivas in the West Bank: Re’em Hacohen of Yeshivat Otniel, Ya’acov Medan of Yeshivat Har Etzion, and Rabbi Nachum Rabinovitch of Yeshivat Birkat Moshe.

Supporters of the rally say the police have been trying to keep Jews out of the Temple Mount. They say the police prevented a group from marching through the Old City’s Lions Gate to the Western Wall plaza on Jerusalem Day, which took place in May. They also complain about restrictions on the practice of some to walk along the Old City walls and stop at each gate to celebrate Rosh Hodesh, which marks the beginning of each Hebrew month. Read more.

Source: The Haarezt