Jewish visitors will be welcome to ascend to the Temple Mount on Jerusalem Day this Sunday – a change from an initial announcement by Israel Police earlier indicating the site would be closed for security reasons.
Temple Mount activists praised police for the change and called upon Jews to visit the site to mark the 52nd anniversary of the reunification of Israel’s eternal capital, the liberation of Jerusalem during the 1967 Six Day War.
Knesset members and other public figures, including a number of rabbis, are preparing to ascend to the Temple Mount, considered one of the holiest sites in Judaism.
Muslims have built two mosques on the site where once stood the First and Second Jewish Holy Temples of Jerusalem.
Due to incessant friction with the Jordanian Islamic Waqf – which was given control over the site as a good will gesture following the war – a strict limit is placed on the number of Jewish visitors allowed to enter the site, and the length of time allowed for Jewish visiting hours.
