The current wave of violence destabilizing Jerusalem and spreading throughout Israel has been widely attributed to the recent inflammation of tensions on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif.   Palestinian and Jordanian authorities strongly argue that the status quo has been progressively violated.  Within Israel such arguments are characterized as incitement and authorities firmly maintain their undiminished observance of the status quo.  

Based on careful monitoring and analysis, Ir Amim assesses that while Prime Minister Netanyahu continues to assert that there has been no change in policy regarding the status quo, the practical application of Israeli policy as it concerns daily arrangements on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif has changed over the last year and a half. 

The overriding principle guiding worship arrangements over the past 500 years is the separation of worship sites: Muslims conduct their religious worship in Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock and Jews worship at the Western Wall.  This principle was revalidated after Israel occupied the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif in 1967.  The peace agreement between Israel and Jordan recognizes this convention and states that the Hashemite Kingdom has preferential status on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif. Prime Minister Netanyahu once again restated this understanding in affirming Israel’s commitment to honor the status quo in his meeting last year with King Abdullah of Jordan.

Counter to these understandings, over the past year and a half:

• Responding to pressure by Temple Movement activists and political patrons such as Culture Minister Miri Regev (former head of the Knesset Interior Committee) and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Uri Ariel, the Israeli Police have taken more proactive actions to ensure Jewish visitors’ access to the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, particularly during the Jewish high holidays.
• There is noteworthy government support for Temple Movements’ call for Jewish prayer on the Mount and/or for the building of the Third Temple as demonstrated by 1) funding of the Temple Institute; 2) the Ministry of Education’s promotion of student visits to the Temple Institute Museum; 3) the provision of Police escorts for monthly Temple Movement parades, during which "Build the Temple, Burn the Mosque" is widely chanted.
• As of last year, Muslim entrance has been restricted or prohibited by Police actions – sometimes completely and sometimes according to gender or age filtering.
• In the two weeks following Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan’s August 24 recommendation that the Ministry of Defense outlaw the activities of the murabitun/murabitat, Police blocked all Muslim women  from entering the Al Aqsa Compound from 7:30 AM – 11:00 AM, the period designated for non-Muslim entrance.  For several days, school children whose schools are located in the compound were also denied access, preventing them from reaching their classes.
•  Events peaked during the Tishrei holiday, from Rosh Hashanah eve (September 13) until the end of Sukkot (October 6) when harsh restrictions were imposed on Muslim access to the Haram al-Sharif virtually every day except for the three days of Eid al-Adha.  Such extreme and continuous restrictions were also enforced last year, demonstrating a change in practical application of policy.  (Please link here for supplements (1, 2, 3 and 4) to Ir Amim’s report, Dangerous Liaison: The Dynamics of the Rise of the Temple Movements and their Implications).
• While it is true that the Police have imposed gender and age restrictions before, in the past such decisions were applied on individual days and never for such a protracted amount of time during a period in which actions could not be legitimized based on Muslim provocations.
• In the past, such decisions were based on security considerations; now, restrictions can be linked to extreme pressure being exerted by the Temple movements and politicians to promote Jewish ascents to the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif.

In themselves, these restrictions constitute a violation of religious rights and freedom of access to holy sites.  Moreover, if the rights of Muslim worshippers are subordinated to ensure access to Jewish visitors during Jewish holidays, such practices evidence the prioritization of visitors over worshipers, encouraging a further erosion of Muslim’s exclusive preferential status on the Haram al-Sharif.  Such actions contribute to increasing anxiety that current restrictions indicate first steps toward Israel implementing a division of time/space arrangements on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif.  Ministers Regev and Ariel have publically promoted such policy shifts.

Israel premises its Muslim access restrictions during the Tishrei holidays on the risk of violent disruptions.  While security forces are charged with maintaining the public order, this argument cannot be used to justify collective restrictions imposed on hundreds of thousands of Muslim worshippers in the absence of any behavior that would evidence a legitimate security risk.  If police are unable to maintain public order when Jews and Muslims are together on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, the status quo must be interpreted as granting precedence of Muslim worshipers over Jewish visitors.  

While Israel verbally defends its adherence to the status quo, there have been clear changes in the practical application of the status quo – changes that have contributed to growing Palestinian perceptions of a reversal of the status quo and amplified the need for clarity around a mutual understanding of its meaning.

Please address all inquiries to:

Betty Herschman

Director of International Relations & Advocacy

Ir Amim (City of Nations/City of Peoples)

betty@ir-amim.org.il

054-308-5096

@IrAmimAlerts