For a few years, Jews have been praying silently and unobtrusively on the eastern side of the Temple Mount, under police protection and without prayer shawls, teflillin, or books. This was the natural response to the huge growth in the number of Jewish visitors to the Mount (800% in a decade) and the result of the Jewish public's growing demand for the "real thing" – the Temple Mount itself, of which the Western Wall is only a part.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Even some Muslims have accepted this justified historic change. These facts, and mostly common sense, are apparently what formed the basis of Jerusalem Magistrates Court Judge Bilha Yahalom's precedential ruling.
Last week, Judge Yahalom ruled that the police must allow worshipper Arie Lipo, who had been banned from the Mount, to return and pray silently there. Yahalom was convinced that his prayers were indeed silent, as he had claimed in his defense.
This weekend, Public Security Minister Omer Barlev issued instructions to the police that challenged the only significant Jewish achievement on the Mount in the last 54 years.
Jerusalem District Court Judge Arie Romanov decided to accept the government's appeal on the lower court's ruling. Lipo – at least for now – will remain under a ban.
The appeal Barlev ordered the police to file is scandalous.
True, this was a major change, but it came on the heels of a series of significant changes the Muslim side initiated to the status quo on the Temple Mount over many years, for its own benefit and to the detriment of the Jews.
But we never heard Barlev and the people who share his views warning about the "volatility and sensitivity of the Temple Mount" – in the language of the District Court appeal – when new mosques were built in Solomon's Stables, at the site of Al-Aqsa and at the Gate of Mercy.
They didn't warn about potential flare-ups of violence when the Waqf and the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement damaged antiquities on the Temple Mount and trampled planning and construction laws.
There were other changes that hurt the Jews, such as Jordan's improved status on the Mount – effectively becoming a quiet but established partner in administering the site, or the closure of the Cotton and Chain Gates to Jews.
The status quo on the Temple Mount has been dynamic for 54 years, so much so that it's hard to call it a status quo given that it is changed periodically to avoid upsetting any Muslim.
The Jerusalem District Court missed an opportunity to grab the bull by the horns and look seriously at the realty created on the Mount in recent years.
Instead, it rushed to do what the government wanted – and keep strong-arm limitations on silent Jewish prayer in place after the matter had largely become a thing of the past.
Jews being allowed to pray silently on the Mount is a tiny victory we should protect, not retreat from. How did Judge Eliezer Goldberg put it? "The political leadership must instill content and meaning into the historic cry 'The Temple Mount is in our hands.'" The court, as Judge Yahalom realized, needs to steer the government in that direction.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
