The new status quo makes it virtually impossible for Jews to form a minyan because the police follow Jews every step of the way, partly to make sure they don’t upset the Muslims by praying, but mainly for their own protection from violent Muslims, some of whom are paid to chase Jews away and to make trouble if they don’t leave.
Muslims on the Temple Mount have become increasingly violent in recent years, and riots were a daily event until two months ago.
Although nothing official has been stated, it is reasonable to assume that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s unannounced visit to Jordan with King Abdullah, when U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was visiting, resulted in a set of ground rules:
Jews can visit the Temple Mount but Knesset Members should stay away, at least for the time being.
Muslims cannot riot.
Jews cannot pray there.
There is a new ”status quo” today, one where Jews are severely restricted from visiting the Temple Mount, but it is well-rooted in the past.
In early October 1967, after Israel opened the Mughrabi (Rambam) gate at the Temple Mount, the head of the Waqf in Jerusalem sent an angry letter to then-Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, Israel’s prime minister, saying:
Last month we sent your honor a telegram warning that Israeli forces had taken over the Mughrabi Gate and opened it to the public; we demanded this action be undone and the key to the gate returned to us. We received confirmation of the telegram’s arrival, but when no change was seen on the ground we’ve sent additional letters demanding the same.
The open gate has enabled uncontrolled visits. Muslim worshippers have been cursed, Jewish tourists have misbehaved and some even had picnics and otherwise behave as tourists on the Temple Mount. These events have caused offense to the Muslims, and we demand that the keys be handed back so the Waqf alone will control the area.
His letter contains the crux of the problem: The presence of Jews on the Temple Mount is “offensive” to Muslims, regardless of the Peace Treaty between Jordan and Israel that “each party will provide freedom of access to places of religious and historical significance.”
The Palestinian Authority, after encouraging the rioters, suddenly is keeping quiet until the opportunity comes to make trouble again when it feels it can win international backing.
The Arab world, with the help of the Haredi-run Rabbinate, has succeeded in barring Jews from praying at the Temple Mount.
The Palestinian Authority, if given the chance, will cite the ruling of the Chief Rabbinate and will ban Jews from visiting the holy site.
Their strategy has been to gain concessions one by one, fueling their appetite not only to refuse to compromise on anything but also to make more demands.
The Arab world thought it could annihilate Israel in 1948 and instead was left with a new Jewish State of Israel far larger than originally proposed by the United Nations.
It thought its armies could wipe out Israel in 1967 and instead was left without any part of Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, Gaza, Judea and Samaria.
Ariel Sharon surrendered Gaza, which since has become a more miserable place than ever.
Palestinian Authority leaders think that one day it will be able to bar Jews from visiting the Temple Mount, and perhaps it is best to let them think what they want.