Israel reaffirmed on Sunday a long-standing arrangement with Muslim authorities that prevents Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, pushing back against a lower Israeli court that questioned the legality of police action against violators.
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Under the decades-old status quo, Israel allows Jews to visit the Temple Mount only if they refrain from religious rites.
Three Jewish minors, ordered to stay away for 15 days by police after they prostrated themselves and intoned the "Shema Yisrael" prayer during a compound tour, contested the ban at the Jerusalem Magistrates' Court. The court ruled in their favor on Sunday.
Police argued the appellants had disrupted officers' duties and threatened public order.
However, Judge Zion Saharai, while noting he did not intend to interfere in law enforcement policy, said they had not "raised concerns of harm befalling national security, public safety, or individual security."
In his ruling, Saharai cited remarks by Israel Police Chief Yaakov Shabtai over the Ramadan holiday in which he said, "The Temple Mount is open. The Israel Police is allowing all of the residents of the country and the territories coming to pray on the mount to ascend and hold practice their religion."
The judge said that under these circumstances, a public statement by the police chief that makes explicitly clear that all residents of the country are permitted to ascend the Temple Mount and practice their religion …."
Responding to the court's ruling, a senior Israel Police official told Channel 12 News Shabtai's remarks "were in no way directed at the Temple Mount."
A close associate of Shabtai condemned the ruling in a conversation with Channel 12 News, which he called a "twisted interpretation" of the police chief's remarks that involved taking his comments out of context." They emphasized that "visitation rules at the site remain as they were" and would be enforced by police.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a statement calling the ruling "a grave assault against the historic status quo ... and a flagrant challenge to international law."
In a statement, Jordan's Foreign Ministry said, "The decision allows extremists to hold ceremonies at the Al-Aqsa compound." It said the magistrate's court ruling was "legally null and void according to international law, which does not recognize the authority of the Israeli judicial system on occupied Palestinian territories from 1967, including east Jerusalem." The ministry called the ruling "a gross violation of international decisions relating to Jerusalem, including resolutions passed by the United Nations Security Council, which all clarify that the status quo must be maintained in the holy city."
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's office said the ruling would be appealed at the higher Jerusalem District Court. "There is no change, nor is any change planned, to the status quo of the Temple Mount," the PMO said.
"The magistrate's court decision is focused exclusively on the matter of the conduct of the minors brought before it and does not include a broader determination regarding the freedom of worship on the Temple Mount."
Meanwhile, Hamas condemned a planned Jerusalem Day flag march that was set to pass through the Damascus Gate in the Old City's Muslim Quarter as "adding fuel to the fire."
"I warn the enemy against carrying out such crimes," Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said in a televised address.
Senior Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip Mushir al-Masri threatened on Sunday to "remove the flags from Al-Aqsa Mosque with our missiles" as Israel prepares for the annual Flag Dance march through the capital's Old City to mark Jerusalem Day.
Hamas political leader of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh also warned "the enemy against committing these crimes and acts" in a recorded address to mark one year since the terrorist organization's 11-day conflict with Israel. He said that conflict "had strategic outcomes."
"We harmed the Zionist enemy's sense of security as far as deterrence and landing a swift blow is concerned. Likewise," he said, the conflict had "removed the geographical obstacles and united all of the Palestinian people. Arab Israelis are a treasure for our people, and they will be the determining factor in determining the historic conflict with the enemy."
"The Palestinian people, led by the resistance, especially those in the West Bank and Jerusalem, will not permit this Jewish, Talmudic rubbish to go idly by," he added. Haniyeh said they would use all the tools at their disposal to prevent the march from passing through the Damascus Gate.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ziad Nahale spoke in a similar vein, saying, "The unification of the conflict arenas has become a necessity. Jerusalem is our eternal capital, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque is the objective of the jihad. We will not accept attempts to Judaize it, even if we go to war every day."
Regional Cooperation Minister, Issawi Frej, called for a change in the route to avoid the Damascus Gate located between the Old City's Christian and Muslim neighborhoods at a cabinet meeting Sunday. "The march should not pass through the Damascus Gate, it is nonsense," he said.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, however, said, "The former prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, gave in to Hamas threats. He said the Damascus Gate "is the usual route of the parade."
Last Wednesday, Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev said that the flag march would pass through the Damascus Gate despite current tensions.
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