Representatives of human rights organizations in Israel should have signed this column along with me. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel allegedly advocates for freedom of movement, the Women of the Wall supposedly does the same for freedom of religion, and the Israel Women's Network is supposed to combat discrimination against women.
However, their silence in this case screams out their hypocrisy.
On March 8, three 14-year-old girls came to pray next to the gates of the Temple Mount. They did not seek to confront or bother anyone, only to pray next to our people's holiest site. Suddenly police arrived and detained them. They sought a court order banning the girls from the area for 90 days.
I defended the girls in court. At the hearing, the police representative admitted to Judge Shmuel Herbst that the girls were not hindering the movements of any Muslims, and it was only worry that Muslims would be angered that had prompted the police's legally baseless request.
Herbst was decisive, ruling that it is the right of every person in Israel to pray throughout the city unless doing so infringes on the rights of others. Using rudimentary principles of reason, he concluded that the freedoms of movement and religion also apply to young Jewish women.
The story could have ended there, but the Jordanian government suddenly joined in, with its ambassador to Israel sending an official letter of condemnation against the Jerusalem court. The letter claimed that courts in Israel have no jurisdiction over eastern Jerusalem.
Sadly, not one Israeli elected official responded to the Jordanians: not Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who declares Israel sovereign over its capital; not Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, who was entrusted with ensuring the independence of the justice system; and not Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan.
No doubt at the heart of these politicians' silence stands a desire to retain good working relations with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. King Abdullah II, however, has revealed himself to be more of a provocateur than a true friend.
On the one hand, he takes complete advantage of Jordan's water agreement with Israel, purchases gas from Israeli gas rigs in the Mediterranean Sea for the Jordanian Electric Power Company – a deal that has provided work and livelihoods to thousands of Jordanians as well as Israelis – and collaborates on tourism, commerce and academic initiatives. The Jordanians have profited much from Israel.
On the other hand, he incites and stirs up the Arabs in Israel. Every time there are clashes, he makes sure to pour fuel on the flames and attacks Israeli's sovereignty in Jerusalem. He completely disregards the fact that even his late father, King Hussein, accepted Jerusalem's standing.
The Jerusalem Magistrates' Court ruling and the Jordanian response are a golden opportunity to tell our neighbor to the east that not only do we have judges in Jerusalem, we also have a sovereign government there. In 1967, the Knesset legislated an amendment to Article 11 A of the Law and Administration Ordinance, extending Israeli law over east Jerusalem. Later, the Knesset passed Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel, legally guaranteeing the right of Jews to pray in all parts of Jerusalem – a right we inherited from our ancestors from time immemorial.
