What is that which sharply divides the religious-Zionist world, causes a slight rift among the haredi public, is used as an excuse for Palestinian violence against Jews, and brings about heavy international pressure upon Israel?
The answer: Jewish visitation and prayer rights to the Temple Mount, the holiest spot in the world.
Israeli Chief Sephardic Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef issued a sharp condemnation of those who visit the site even with rabbinic sanction, blaming them for Arab murders of Jews: “They cause unrest on the part of the Arabs who hate us, and add oil to the fire…. It cannot be that minor-league rabbis dispute all the Torah giants who forbid visiting the Mount. People must stop violating karet Torah prohibitions, and thus the bloodshed will stop.”
Within the haredi world, this is not a matter of dispute. Only a small minority of haredim have long been in the forefront of the campaign not to forsake the Temple Mount and to frequent it (after properly immersing in a mikveh and making sure to remain within the permitted locations). They have barely made a dent in the general haredi position, however.
Among religious-Zionists, on the other hand, the topic is highly controversial. For one thing, Rabbi Yosef’s remarks aroused bitter responses in this camp. Economic Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the Jewish Home party, disputed the implied connection between visiting the Temple Mount and the violence. “No, Honored Rabbi Yosef,” he wrote on his Facebook page. “Jewish blood was spilled [simply] because Arabs murdered them.”
The Tzohar rabbinical organization accused Rabbi Yosef of denigrating the honor of the rabbis who permit visiting certain areas of the Temple Mount, and of blaming the victims instead of the murderers. Hebron resident and attorney Itamar Ben-Gvir said Rabbi Yosef’s remarks were warmly welcomed by Hamas: “Our enemies have now achieved their objective: the knowledge that if they strike us, we will run away…. It should be clear that our enemies want us not only off the Temple Mount; they don’t want us on Shmuel HaNavi St. in Jerusalem or in Bnei Brak either.”
Leading Zionist Rabbis Nachum Rabinowitz, Yuval Cherlow, and Dov Lior are among those who permit, and even encourage, visiting the Temple Mount – only within delineated borders, of course, and after immersion in a mikveh. Other rabbis of this camp say that while they themselves do not ascend to the Mount, they do not stop their students who wish to do so.
Other religious-Zionist rabbis disagree. Many of them follow the rulings of the late Rabbis Tzvi Yehuda Kook and Avraham Shapira who forbade visiting the Mount. The issue is widely debated in the religious-Zionist camp, with some saying there is a right and a duty to visit the site and thus preserve Jewish sovereignty there, while others insist that “now is not the time.”
On the political front, the United States insists that the “status quo” on the Temple Mount not be changed. The U.S. thus believes that Muslims be allowed to worship there without limitation, despite the security risks this entails, while Jews must continued to be prohibited from visiting in large groups and at times other than the specified hours, and must not be allowed to pray there.
Can it be that in the 21st century, the leader of the free world supports discriminatory prayer rights in Jerusalem? Is it conceivable that it stands strong for the rights of Muslims to pray on the Temple Mount, but insists that Jews not pray there?
Another fascinating point is that State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki has taken to referring to the Temple Mount as the “Haram Al-Sharif/Temple Mount.” The former term is Arabic for “Noble Sanctuary.” One reporter asked her why she has begun using the Arabic term first and the more Jewish term second. “After all, the Temple Mount was there first,” the questioner noted. Psaki said there was no significance to the change.