Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says it’s not yet time to allow Israeli lawmakers back on the Temple Mount.
Speaking at Monday’s meeting of the Likud faction, Netanyahu said, “The decision [not to allow MKs to ascend to the Temple Mount] will not change soon.
For nearly a year, Israeli lawmakers were banned from the site by an edict issued by the prime minister, in order to minimize tensions with Arab agitators. But the Jerusalem District Police commander recommended last month that Knesset members and Israeli ministers again be allowed to ascend to the Temple Mount.
At the time, Netanyahu said he would huddle with security officials to “listen to their position” and then make a decision.
During the faction meeting, however, Netanyahu said that police recommendation to relax the ban on lawmakers from the site “was not a recommendation, ” he said, “but rather, only an assessment of the situation.
“At the moment, you all understand that it is sensitive timing,” he added, noting that any change in the policy at this time would be “problematic.”
Temple Mount activists were outraged, and in response, said they “condemn the illegal and undemocratic conduct” of the prime minister regarding the Temple Mount.
“The continued damage to Jewish rights in general, as well as to the functioning of elected officials must stop immediately,” the activists said in a statement issued to media.