Jews Prevented from Approaching and Praying Near the Temple Mount…Again

Area of Activity
Area of Activity

Today Sam “Tzvi” Goodman our newest street reporter and myself decided to look and go near some of the gates to the Temple Mount many people don’t go near.  These are mainly in the Northern area of the Mount.  At each gate the police prevented from praying and in some places came out and stopped us from coming within 10 meters of the entrance.  Watch the video below.

Jews Prevented From Praying Near Temple Mount Gates AgainSam Goodman Israel Rising’s newest street reporter and David Mark Israel Rising’s Founder approach several gates of the Temple Mount, not to ascend but just pray or take pictures and are turned away.

Posted by Israel Rising on Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Another Gate to the Temple Mount
Another Gate to the Temple Mount

REDEMPTION WATCH: An Alternative Vision for the future Temple

Originally Published on the Global-Report

The Sabbath before the Ninth of Av (the 11th month in the current Hebrew calendar) is called “Shabbat Ḥazon” (the Sabbath of Vision) and in it we read in the Torah the first Portion of the Book of Devarim – Deuteronomy – and continue with the reading from the Prophets (Haftarah) the vision that begins the Book of Isaiah, “The vision of Yesha’yahu the son of Amoẓ, which he saw concerning Yehudah and Yerushalayim…”, which contains admonishments.

Only the next chapter (not included in the Haftarah), deals with the reward for the penitence from sin and brings a comprehensive prophetic vision, “The word that Yesha’yahu the son of Amoẓ saw, concerning Yehudah and Yerushalayim. And it shall come to pass in the last days,[1]that the mountain of the Lord’s House shall be established on the top of the mountains, and and shall be exalted above the hills; and all the nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountan of the Lord, to the house of the God of Ya’ạqov, and He will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Ẓiyyon shall go forth Torah, and the word of the Lord from Yerushalayim. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall decide among many people; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not list up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (2:1-4).

The Ninth of Av is the commemoration day for the destruction of the Temples of Jerusalem, whereas the vision of Isaiah is the consolation and restoration for their destruction. There is therefore a Hassidic tradition due to Rabbi Levi-Yitzhaq of Berditchev that was disseminated by the Ḥabad (Chabad) leaders,[2] according to which the Sabbath before the 9th of Av is the very time when “each one of Israel is shown the future Temple from afar”.

The presentation of the outline plan of the temple is a precondition for its realization, as is written in the prophecy of Ezekiel “Thou son of Man, describe the house to the house of Yisra’el, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern” (43:10). For those of you who have not had yet the occasion to see this vision, allow me to present the plan of the future Temple as it arises out of the Torah readings of Shabbat Ḥazon. This is a plan that is easy to understand now, in 2010 (5,770) but would have been difficult to understand in, say, 1948 or 1968.

The first thing in a plan, yet before dealing with forms and design, is defining the function that the planned structure or system should serve. This function is indeed defined in the vision of Isaiah cited above – a universal temple that would serve as place of instruction to all nations. Another prophecy of Isaiah adds “my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples” (56:7). The location is, as we saw, in Jerusalem – “for out of Ẓiyyon shall go forth Torah, and the word of the Lord from Yerushalayim”, and the prophecy also gives a preliminary indication of a form – the Lord’s House shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills”, from which we can learn that the intention is not for a replication of the Second Temple, because even Herod’s Temple, with all its glory, when it served a multitude of pilgrims, was lower than the hills that surround the Temple Mount.

The verse continues: “and He will teach us of his ways”, teaching us that the future temple would be, primarily, a place of study and instruction. Even the Second Temple did not serve, as far as we know, as primarily a place of instruction and study. It is actually the institution that replaced the temple – the Yeshivah (Torah academy) – that suggests an interesting model – the temple as a universal Bet Midrash (house of exegesis) for the discussion and interpretation in order to elucidate the divine will, how to fulfill the stipulated demands, such as: “Learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow” (1:17). First “..restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counselors as at the beginning; afterwards thou shall be called, The city of righteousness, a faithful city. Ẓiyyon shall be redeemed with judgment and those that return to her with righteousness” (1:26-27).

As a planner, I learnt that before starting to plan it is incumbent to identify the number of users and the nature of their behavior. This is indeed given in the Torah portion of Shabbat Ḥazon – Parashat Devarim, where Moses blessed the people of Israel “The Lord your God has multiplied you, and, behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven for multitude. The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as you are…” (Deut. 1:10-11). The number of the tribesmen of Israel, the nation that Moses guided, was more than 600 thousand men of army service (not counting women, old people and children). Moses had much difficulty administering to such a great number, yet his hope and his vision was that there will be “a thousand times so many more as you are” – that is, that in the future the constituency of Israel will number more than 600 millions, all of them potential users of the temple! Moses the prophet (of the tribe of Levi) did not predict the appearance of a “Jewish People” of hundreds of millions, but a public that relates to all the Twelve Israelite Tribes, which will be constituted, as Isaiah defined, from “all the nations” and of “many people” who recognize the Lord God of Israel and the importance of Jerusalem-Ẓion as the place for cleaving to Him. Let us mention also that such a gigantic number of users becomes manageable only nowadays, when humankind numbers in the billions and the Internet and social networks (e.g. Facebook) connect hundreds of millions.

The Haftarah states quite clearly that the desirable temple worship is not the sacrifice of animals: “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me? Will say (in future tense: yomar-יאמר, that is, in the future Temple) the Lord (YHWH) I have been sated (savaạti, past tense) with the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I desired (in past tense, lo hafazti, that is, in the past temples) not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of goats” (1:11), but “wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do well”.

In the times of Isaiah, such utterances might have seemed blasphemy. But nowadays what may keenly interest hundreds of people in the establishment of the Jerusalem Temple cannot be the sacrifice of animals, not even “the glory of Judaism” (which might be a side product). A temple that may attract many millions must fulfill actual collective needs, must serve the survival needs of contemporary humankind. The greatest current danger to world peace stems from conflicts between “The Children of Abraham” that may bring about a world war – the conflict between “the world of Islam” and the Christian (and Jewish) or “Western World”. The peril of the conflict between “The Children of Abraham” is from nuclear terrorism, which cannot be contained through “balance of threat” between countries. Yet this conflict is not an essential conflict between religions but conflict between certain interpretations of scriptures. The prevention of this conflict would be possible only by way of comprehensive cultural and inter-religious change, in which millions of citizens from all the religions will desire reconciliation and the prevention of terrorism and will be ready to act to bring these about. The symbolic essence of the conflict is at the Jerusalem Temple Mount. The visionary temple that is required is therefore a facility of mass-yet-particular education that will rectify the contradicting interpretations between the religions and would assist its users to find the points of partnership and of mutual understandings.[3]

The precise wording of Rabbi Levi-Yitzḥaq of Berditchev is “each one of Israel is shown the future Temple from afar”. This expression derives from the Binding of Isaac (Yiẓḥaq) where it is written that, at first, “Then on the third day Avraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place from afar” (Gen. 22:4); and then, when the trial was over, “And Avraham called the name of that place YHWH yir’eh (will see, future tense) as it will be said (ye’amer) today, In the Mount the lord will appear”. This way our forefather Abraham already fixed for future generations the place to which his descendents should be aligned to and where they would be able to reach reconciliation – he already fixed then what will be seen and what will be said today concerning the epiphany (divine appearance) at the Mountain of the Lord. Abraham observed the site from a distance of time – a thousand years before David and Solomon and almost four thousand years before our time.

But concerning the physical distance and aspect, there is a difficulty here, as we have already mentioned that the Temple Mount is lower than the surrounding hills and it is not possible to view it from far off. Rashi (the foremost Jewish Torah commentator) explained it in his interpretation of the verse “‘Avraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place from afar’: what did he see? He saw a cloud tied to the mountain”, this means that he saw that the future temple will include a fixed cloud, bound and tethered to the mountain, while its top is in the skies, so that it is necessary to lift eyes to it and possible to see from afar. We may also recall that Rashi stipulated that “the future Temple that we are expecting will be built and perfected and will be revealed as coming from heaven… ”.[4] Such a cloud, that can be artificially provided and enclosed, could serve as a giant 3-dimensional screen for holographic projections of lights arrays that may present the temple and the results of its worship,[5] and may be seen from Tel Aviv to Amman. It will allow to present upon it the (moral and conscious) Ascent to the divine world, a kind of Jacob’s ladder.

When the form of the Temple would appear in the skies as a “Temple of Light” built up of “Living Stones” of lights and reflections, this would remove the main impediment to the realization of the Temple in our times.  What has historically replaced the Temple was, as noted, the Yeshivah – the place of conversational learning – and the shrine of the dome of the Rock is uniquely suitable to serve as a ceremonial multi-faith Yeshivah in which the distinguished pilgrims, the elect (meẓuyanim) among the religions and tribes, would engage in parallel “disputations for the sake of heaven” combined with prayer and appeal for divine guidance to find the straight path for peace and reconciliation.

[1] For an explanation why these “last days” are our present, see Introduction for the Re-GENESIS NOW exegesis.

[2] See Likkute Sichos, volume 39 on Shabat Hazon 5751, inhttp://www.chabadlibrary.org/books.

[3] The Qur’an states explicitly: To each among you, we have prescribed a law and a clear way. If Allah willed, He would have made you one nation, but that (He) may test you in what He has given you; so strive as in the race in good deeds. The return of you (all) is to Allah; then He will inform you about that in which you used to differ” (Surah 5, the Table, verse 48 (official Saudi version). The place marked for this gathering, according to the Bible and also to the Islamic traditions, is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem

[4] Talmud Bavly, tractate Sukkah page 70a and Tosafot there; Tractate Shavuot 15b

[5] Article on cloud and smoke in the future temple

BREAKING NEWS: Arabs Riot on the Temple Mount Because Jews Tried to Pray

Temple Mount Riot

Tisha B’Av is the collective day of morning for the Jewish people worldwide in which they remember the destruction of both Temples that stood on the spot where the Muslims built the Dome of th Rock. In commemoration of today’s tragedy Jews ascended the Temple Mount as they always do, but when they tried praying quietly they set off a riot that terminated Jewish prayer for the rest of the day on the site.

Watch below:

#فيديو توتر واشتباكات بالايدي بين قوات الاحتلال والمصلين في المسجد الأقصى

تصوير : رامي الخطيب

Posted by ‎مركز إعلام القدس‎ on Sunday, August 14, 2016

The video depicts the mayhem that ensued as the soldiers and police trie to calm the raging Arabs who violently oppose any Jewish presence on the site. Centuries past, when the Dome of the Rock was first built by the Umayyad Caliphate, the Jews of Jerusalem were actually invited up to pray on the Temple Mount and the Jewish priests were in charge of lighting the building’s lights. When the Umayyad Caliphate fell, the practice ended and Jews were restricted from going up.

Headlines June 28: Temple Mount Attacks, Rivlin & Ban Ki-Moon, Bibi & Kerry

On Tuesday morning, Arab rioters on the Temple Mount who presumably found no more Jews or police to attack up there, began throwing stones down at the Jews who were engaged in their morning prayer before the Western Wall. One woman, age 73, was injured lightly and was rushed to Hadassah Ein Karem hospital.
[The Jewish Press]

 

Likud MK Yehuda Glick criticizes barring of Temple Mount to Jews, calls on Islamic leaders to reign in violence.
[Arutz Sheva]
President Rivlin meets with UN Sec. Gen. Ban Ki-moon and they discuss regional issues including captive Israeli soldiers, terrorism, peace initiatives and normalization with Turkey.
[Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry discuss defense issues and the peace process with the Palestinians • Netanyahu also meets with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
[Israel Hayom]

Shin Bet reveals five members of terrorist cell, three of them dentists, arrested over May 10 pipe bomb attack • Leader cites “desecration of Al-Aqsa mosque and harming Palestinian children” as motives • Suspects show interrogators 56 more explosives.
[Israel Hayom]

Headlines June 14: Israel to Head UN Legal Committee, Temple Mount Ban Lifted, Paris ISIS Attack

Israel Makes UN History: Ambassador Danny Danon to Head UN Legal Committee
[The Jewish Press]

 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday lifted the ban on Knesset Members and cabinet ministers visiting the Temple Mount.
[Arutz Sheva]

 

Paris Police Officer Stabbed To Death; ISIS Reportedly Claims Responsibility
[The Huffington Post]

 

Brazil regrets its vote negating Israel’s tie to Western Wall, Temple Mount
[The Jerusalem Post]

 

Johannes Hahn, the European Commission’s Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, arrived in Israel on an official visit to initiate a process of consultations with Israel ahead of the launch of the new Israel-EU bilateral cooperation program.
[Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs]

 

Miracle: Shot twice in the head, victim recounts Tel Aviv attack
[Arutz Sheva]

Headlines June 13: Condolences to Orlando Victims, Attacks in Jerusalem, Incitement by Temple Mount Preacher

PM Netanyahu extended Israel’s deepest condolences to the American people following the horrific attack on the LGBT community in Orlando.
[Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs]

 

A Jewish woman and child were attacked by an Arab male in Jerusalem on Shavuot.
[The Jewish Press]

 

The Palestinians’ conflict with Israel, including the occupation in the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza, is the primary cause for Palestinian “humanitarian vulnerabilities,” according to a UN report published Monday.
[Times of Israel]

 

The nephew of Hamas de facto prime minister Ismail Haniyeh was hospitalized over the weekend at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem.
[The Jewish Press]

 

Two Israeli teens were injured and several others in shock late Sunday in a rock-throwing attack on a bus in East Jerusalem.
[Times of Israel]

 

Watch: Temple Mount preacher calls to ‘annihilate the Jews’

Headlines May 26: Hamas Smugglers Caught, IAF Retaliates Rocket Fire, UN vs. Hamas

Hamas has a factory in Hebron to manufacture parts for its weapons which ships the goods to Gaza. This time the smugglers were caught.
[The Jewish Press]

 

In response to rocket fire launched towards Israel late Wednesday night, the Israeli Air Force attacked two locations that were part of Hamas’ terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.
[The Jerusalem Post]

 

UN chief said planning final visit to Israel, Palestinian Authority
[Time of Israel]

 

A high level UN official on Wednesday issued a number of rare criticisms against Hamas in Gaza for holding public executions and using civilian cement for military purposes.
[The Jerusalem Post]

 

Knesset official warns Arab MKs: Don’t ascend Temple Mount
[Arutz Sheva]

 

Thousands upon thousands of Jews celebrated Lag B’Omer at the Tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai with song and dance and heartfelt prayer.
[The Jewish Press]

Is the Israeli Government Empowering Islam’s Disregard for History?

“Israel is not the problem on the Temple Mount; Israel is the solution,”Bibi Netanyahu said back in October 2015. “We’re keeping the status quo, we’re the only ones who will do it, and we will continue to do this in a responsible, serious manner.”

Over six months after those tense fall and winter months, when it looked like all was about to unravel under an increasing terror wave from Palestinian radicals, the spring seemed to bring an odd calmness.  Even the Temple Mount, the supposed heart of the conflict saw a growing amount of Jews being allowed up.

To many, the Prime Minister’s approach seemed to have worked and yet we see, like always what the real reason is for the reprieve in Palestinian violence in connection to Jerusalem.

With the help of Regavim and other activists, a situation came to light concerning the Muslim Waqf’s intention to alter the status quo by harming the walls of the Temple Mount in order to facilitate increased access for Muslim worshipers in time for Ramadan in June. The site in question is on the Mount’s South side and would irrevocably damage a declared antiquities site.

regavim-banner

In March 2016 the Israel Antiquities Authority  filed a lawsuit against the Muslim Waqf in the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court that petitioned the court  to give a permanent injunction prohibiting the continued work of the illegal site and restitution.  The injunction was in fact granted, yet one day later the Prime Minister’s office intervened and the injunction was lifted.

This is Bibi’s style.  He talks tough and behind the scenes gives the Palestinian Arabs some gifts in order to remain calm. This particular gift is set to be explosive and would be the first time since the Waqf dug up ancient artifacts on the Temple Mount that they would be allowed to completely alter the status quo.

In early May the Antiquities Authority sent a message to the court insisting the government appeared set on settling the matter through discussion with the Waqf.  In fact, the political echelon admitted that they wanted time to have a dialogue and asked for an extension that would lead until July.

“In the meantime, and during the period in which you are active on the political level and try to finish the matter through dialogue with the Waqf, the  illegal construction at the archaeological site continues, in violation of the order to stop work against them with total disregard for their obligations according to the law and instead attempt to talk with them,” lawyers for the Antiquities Authority charged in  written statement. “The construction works are expected to be completed at the archaeological site with the start of Ramadan in about two weeks. The experience of our client says that as soon as work on the toilets will begin, it will be difficult for future enforcement actions.”

This week right wing NGO Regavim issued the following the statement: “This week, we issued an urgent letter to the prime minister, the mayor of Jerusalem and Minister Regev that the (IAA) is under her wing. We are also preparing a petition on the matter to the Supreme Court. This destruction of Jewish History can not continue on the Temple Mount.”

The question of status quo is constantly pushed to frame actions by Jews on the Temple Mount as encroachment, while actions by Muslims and their supporters are merely restoring that which the Jewish presence altered.  The real question for the government is at what cost do we incur by letting the Muslim Waqf radically change our holiest site in exchange for some quiet. Giving up on the Temple Mount sets the stage for the rest of Jerusalem and so forth. The government would be wise to admit to itself and to the public that the farce of a “status quo” is just that, a lie and if the Waqf cannot uphold its part of the agreement, we no longer need to as well.

Why does UNESCO Insist on Rewriting Israel’s History?

“UNESCO ignores the unique Jewish connection to the Temple Mount, the site of two temples for 1,000 years, and the place to which Jews prayed for thousands of years,” Netanyahu said in a statement last month.

No one should be surprised by UNESCO’s resolution, passed April 11th, yet politicians across the spectrum in Israel have reacted angrily towards a UN organization that has catapulted itself into the complicated political quagmire that is the Middle East.  After all, Yair Lapid expressed the outrage by explaining how the most recent decision goes against UNESCO’s charter.  

“This resolution was an utterly irresponsible intervention in one of the most complex places in the Middle East. UNESCO prides itself on promoting tolerance, interfaith and intercultural dialogue, yet it passes resolutions which erase the Jewish people from the historical narrative,” Lapid said.

The resolution in question takes Israel to task for preventing Muslim access to the Temple Mount and even the Kotel. These two sites, holy to Jews around the world are named as Muslim/Palestinian holy sites Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif and Buraq Plaza.

The resolution at one point says: “Further deplores the Israeli decision to approve a plan to build a two-line cable car system in East Jerusalem and the so called ‘Liba House’ project in the Old City of Jerusalem as well as the construction of the so called ‘Kedem Center’, a visitor centre near the southern wall of the Mosque, the construction of the Strauss Building and the project of the elevator in Al Buraq Plaza ‘Western Wall Plaza’ and urges Israel, the Occupying Power, to renounce the above-mentioned projects and to stop the construction works in conformity with its obligations under the relevant UNESCO conventions, resolutions and decisions.”

Another paragraph states: “Calls on Israel, the Occupying Power, to stop violations against the Waqf properties east and south of Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif, such as the recent confiscations of parts of Al Youssefeyah cemetery and Al-Sawanah area by banning Muslims from burying their dead in some spaces and by planting Jewish fake graves in other spaces of the Muslim cemeteries, in addition to the dramatic change of the status and distinctive character of the Umayyad Palaces, in particular the violation of the continued conversion of many Islamic and Byzantine remains into the so-called Jewish ritual baths or into Jewish prayer places.”

With this sort of language, the government has essentially lost control of a process that began a long time ago.  The process of international delegitimization began by an Arab world seeking the help of other UN member states, has systematically attempted to erase Jewish history in Israel for the sole purpose of rendering Israel’s existence just one long occupation based on historical fabrications.  

The question isn’t why the Arab world is engaging in such profuse insanity, but rather why is the rest of the Western world going along with it?  After all, by supporting UNESCO’s denial the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount or even most of the Land of Israel, many countries in the Christian world have in fact undermined the roots to their own history. So why the rush to support such erroneous claims by the Islamic countries pushing these sorts of resolution?

“Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.”

In his book 1984 George Orwell penned what has now become one of his most famous quotes: “Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.” The UN and its associated organizations like UNESCO understand full well that history supports Jewish claims in their entirety to all of the Land of Israel.  More than this, history shows that is was not only the Roman Empire and later the Byzantines that contributed to the injustices of the Jewish people in their historic homeland, but the Arab world by and large finished off through forced colonization whatever fledgling community of Jews remained in the Land of Israel.

Dr. Harry Mandelbaum noted the following in an article he wrote for Think Israel:

  • The historian James Parker wrote: “During the first century after the Arab conquest [670-740 CE], the caliph and governors of Syria and the Holy Land ruled entirely over Christian and Jewish subjects. Apart from the Bedouin in the earliest days, the only Arabs west of the Jordan were the garrisons.”
  • In year 985 the Arab writer Muqaddasi complained: “the mosque is empty of worshipers… The Jews constitute the majority of Jerusalem’s population” (The entire city of Jerusalem had only one mosque?).
  • In 1377, Ibn Khaldun, one of the most creditable Arab historians, wrote: “Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel extended over 1400 years… It was the Jews who implanted the culture and customs of the permanent settlement”

These are uncomfortable facts if you are trying to paint the opposite picture.

In order to perpetrate a future dismantling of the 3rd Jewish Commonwealth in its historic boundaries, the claims of the Jewish people must be returned to the realm of myth.  Does this in fact cut away at the roots of Christianity?  It does, but Constantine through the Council of Nicea in 325 showed that he and the Church were perfectly comfortable in doing away with Christianity’s roots by reworking history and projecting that rebuilt history back onto the past.  

UNESCO is in a sense doing what the Council of Nicea did centuries ago; attempting to permanently control the future by controlling the past.  The irony is that today’s Church has by and large made peace with the idea that the Judaism serves as their religion’s roots.  Despite this acceptance, their overtures to the Jewish people came about precisely because of the Jewish Nation’s return to its historic homeland, which destroyed one of the major tenets of early Church philosophy known as the wandering Jew.

The assumption by the Church, was the exile of the Jewish Nation came about due to a rejection of Jesus, proving covenant between the Jews and the Almighty to be null and void.  According to the Church this exile would continue forever.  Aurelius Prudentius Clemens said as far back as 400 CE: “From place to place the homeless Jew wanders in ever-shifting exile, since the time when he was torn from the abode of his fathers and has been suffering the penalty for murder, and having stained his hands with the blood of Christ whom he denied, paying the price of sin.” The Church was forced to dismantle this tenet upon the Jewish people’s return.  By reversing this sort of doctrine, the Church is essentially accepting the veracity of the Mosaic covenant.

For the world, this history, the history of the Nation of Israel and its connection to its land has become a burden.

Supporting UNESCO or at least remaining silent stems from the inherent need to deny a national connection the Holy Land for the Jewish people. For the world, this history, the history of the Nation of Israel and its connection to its land has become a burden. After all, it is far easier to deal with the Jewish burden than the Muslim one and perhaps, just perhaps that tenet of the wandering Jew, so vital to the Church and many Christian theologians, will be reinstated in a very careful way.

The nefariousness of all of this is of course obvious, but what is perhaps more telling is that the Israeli government has assumed this is just some sort of mistake or lack of knowledge. It isn’t, and the faster it understands this, the faster it can start pushing back successfully.

Bibi Netanyahu: I was shocked

“Two weeks ago, I was shocked to hear that UNESCO adopted a decision denying any Jewish connection to the Temple Mount, our holiest site. It is hard to believe that anyone, let alone an organization tasked with preserving history, could deny this link which spans thousands of years,” Netanyahu wrote on Facebook.

“That is why today I am announcing a seminar on Jewish history for all UN personnel in Israel. I will personally host the lecture at the Prime Minister’s Office. The seminar will be given by a leading scholar of Jewish history and will be free to all UN staff and diplomats, including of countries which voted for this outrageous decision.”

Of course Bibi is right. The decision to disconnect the Nation of Israel from the history of the Temple Mount is outrageous, but no one should be shocked at UNESCO’s erasure of Jewish connection to its holiest site.  The organization has been politicizing its decisions instead of sticking to its mandate, which states it has purely educational goals.

The challenge is that Bibi’s own government restricts Jewish access to the mount, giving the impression that the State of Israel does not value its connection to the site.  Reverse that and organizations like UNESCO have far less strength to rewrite history.