Last Monday, Israel Hayom reported that the wakf, the Jordanian body that for some reason has been given rights to serve as the custodian of the Temple Mount, had added to its ranks Palestinian politicians and wheelers and dealers and that in its new composition, the wakf was now openly acting to undermine the status quo on the Temple Mount.
The next day, this newspaper reported on the way in which the Jordanians, the Palestinians and the wakf are planning to change the status quo through mass prayer in the vicinity of the Golden Gate in Jerusalem's Old City, which had been sealed off by Israeli authorities to prevent Muslim prayer there in accordance with a court order. Jewish prayer at the Golden Gate area or at any other point inside the Temple Mount, it should be noted, whether as part of a minyan [prayer quorum] or alone, will put a person on a fast track to an interrogation room. Outside of Israel Hayom, though, the other media outlets have ignored the issue, despite it being one of the most significant turnarounds in the history of the conflict: The violation of the status quo has been given almost sanctified status.
These were not just empty threats. On that very same day, Muslim worshipers broke through the Gate of Mercy and stormed inside the Golden Gate area. Israeli police stationed at the Temple Mount tried to prevent them from breaking in but the next day, the Muslim worshipers returned. Once again, they broke through the gate and once again, the police were sent in. This time, the police issued a celebratory message claiming they "would not allow anyone to violate the law or harm the status quo." By this point, the rest of the media outlets could no longer remain indifferent to what was transpiring in Jerusalem. They reported on "riots at the Temple Mount" and "clashes between police and worshippers," language that would have been more fitting had this been an illegal demonstration at a public square.
The Golden Gate is not just another public square or marginal area, but rather the only gate in the walls of the Old City that leads directly to the Temple Mount. Inside it are the remains of an ancient gate dating back to around the Second Temple era and it is quite frankly horrifying to think what will become of those remains if the Israel Police allows the status quo to be violated. For inspiration, one can look to the mass destruction of the antiquities in Solomon's Stables by the Islamic Movement in Israel in the late 1990s, during the tenure of then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
I am not a religious woman but I am Jewish with every fiber of my being. You don't need to be religious or on the political Right to understand that what is happening here, right under our noses, is extremely dangerous for Israeli sovereignty, public trust in the police and our legacy in the land of Israel and the physical markers of that legacy in particular.
And in the meantime, despite the unequivocal denials from the police, the gate is now wide open. Muslim prayer in the Golden Gate area continues unhindered. Obviously, there can be no Jewish prayer at the site; that would be a gross and provocative violation of the status quo and that is something the State of Israel would be absolutely unable to tolerate.
