“And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to minister to Him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be His servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to My covenant—these I will bring to My holy mountain and give them joy in My house of prayer. … For My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” (Isaiah 56:6–7)
A recent debate on a bill that would guarantee Jews access to the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, as well as equal prayer rights there, sparked an angry response from Arab-Israeli MKs (members of parliament). (Arutz 7)
Observant Jews visit the Temple Mount.
During the debate MK Miri Regev stressed that no attempt is being made to bar Muslims from praying at the Al Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site.
This led Arab MK Ahmed Tibi to shout, “The Second Intifada began because of Al Aqsa, and because of you it will erupt because of Al Aqsa… you are a pyromaniac.”
He went on to accuse female members present of endangering both their children and the Arab children, calling them lowly settlers who occupy the land of others. (Arutz 7)
The shouting became so disruptive that security guards had to remove the offending Arab MKs.
MK Ahmed Tibi
The proposed law would set up daily prayer hours during which Jewish groups would be allowed to visit the Temple Mount, where the First and the Second Temples once stood.
Although no law prohibits Jewish or Christian prayer on the Mount, pressure from the Islamic Waqf which manages the Temple Mount has led Israeli police to ban and even arrest Jews and sometimes Christians who have attempted to pray there.
Those that support the bill see it as an historic move in support of religious freedom.
Although the Mount was liberated from Arab occupation during the 1967 Six Day War, control was handed back to the Waqf, which some say has been carrying out a campaign of Islamization, systematically destroying all evidence of any historic Jewish presence on the Temple Mount.
