Right-wing watchdog group Im Tirtzu expressed criticism this week after a replica of the Dome of the Rock – an Islamic shrine sitting atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's old city – was erected in a Palestinian neighborhood without approval from the city council.
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It was erected in the southern Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Safafa, reportedly through donations and by volunteers.
According to one resident, "Those who didn't donate helped in the actual physical labor of building it. There's no external funding, only the locals."
Constructed of stainless steel at about 20 feet in diameter, it is roughly a third of the size of the original dome.
Im Tirtzu and several other right-wing organizations petitioned the city council to remove the structure based on the fact that it had been built without a permit.
The replica "represents the fact that there is no law and no enforcement in the State of Israel," Yehuda Sharabanay, Project Director of the Im Tirtzu, told i24NEWS.
"This dome was constructed illegally by the Muslim Brotherhood that placed it here in disregard of the law without any permit," he added, and stressed that while Israel revered "places of worship and other religions... the law in the State of Israel needs to be respected."
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
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