Mahmoud Abbas, in his now notorious speech at the United Nations on May 15, absurdly denied there was any proof of a Jewish link to the Temple Mount. In doing so, he ignored the overwhelming archeological, documentary and historical evidence of the Jewish Temples.

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Documentary evidence for the Temple includes the Old and New Testaments, the Mishnah and Midrash, and the writings of first-century Jewish historian Josephus. There are also many non-Jewish historical writings and documentary sources describing the Temples.

• 4th century BCE, Menander, a Greek historian.
• 4th century BCE, Hecataeus of Abdera, a Greek historian.
• 3rd century BCE, Berossus of Babylon.
• 3rd-2nd century BCE, Aristeas, a Greek official in the court of Ptolemy II, a Macedonian king of Egypt.
• 1st century BCE, Cicero, a Roman statesman.
• Circa 1st century CE, the Edict of Augustus.
• 1st century CE, Strabo, a Greek geographer.
• 1st century, Tacitus, a Roman historian.
• 1st century, the Arch of Titus.
• 1st century, Plutarch, a Greek historian.
• 2nd century, Cassius Dio, a Roman historian.
• 3rd century, Eusebius, a Greek Christian historian and Bishop of Caesarea.
• More than a dozen Islamic hadiths.
• 9th century, Muhammad ibn Jair Al-Tabari.
• 10th-century geographer and Jerusalem resident Muhammad ibn Ahmad Shams al-Din al-Muqaddasi.
• 11th century, Abu Bakr Muhammad Ahmad al-Wasiti.
• 12th-century geographer Muhamad al-Idrisi.
• 12th-century geographer Yaqut al Hamawi.
• 13th-century theologian Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah.
• 14th-century historian Abd al-Rahman ibn Khaldun.
• 15th-century historian Mujir al-Din.
• 15th-century polymath Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti.

There is also a substantial and growing body of archeological evidence of the presence of the Jewish Temples, including the following:

• 8th century BCE, Hezekiah stone tablet inscription.
• 8th century BCE, Isaiah Seal.
• 8th century BCE, King Hezekiah Seal.
• Temple Warning Inscriptions.
• Beit Hatekia Inscription referencing the blowing of trumpets on the Mount to announce the Sabbath, holidays and certain rituals.
• The lower course of the Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount, north and south of the Golden Gates, from the First Temple period.
• The High Priest's golden bell, dated to the Second Temple period.
• The Herodian Stones, comprising the retaining wall of the Temple Mount, including the extensive portions below the present ground level, which can be seen at the Museum of the Western Wall.
• Herodian architecture and art, including in the entry halls of the Double Gate, located under the Al-Aqsa mosque structure. This was a part of what is known as the Hulda Gates.
• A water cistern at the southeast corner of the Temple Mount platform near Robinson's Arch, dated to the First Temple period.
• Seals and pottery shards dating to the time of King Solomon (10th to ninth centuries BCE) and the First Temple period. These include seals inscribed with "Immer," the name of a well-known priestly family at the time.
• Silver half-shekel coins from the Second Temple period.
• Wooden beams dating to the First and Second Temple periods.
• Second Temple-era mikvahs.
• Remains of a defensive wall, dating back approximately 3,000 years to King Solomon's reign.
• The Pilgrimage Road, built by King Herod to ascend from the Pool of Siloam.

The ninth-century Muslim historian Al-Tabari gave an intimate and detailed account of Omar's decision not to place a mosque on the site of the Jewish Temple and, instead, to locate the Al-Aqsa mosque outside of the Temple precincts. Ka'ab, a seventh-century Yemenite Jew who converted to Islam, and a number of other Jews, showed Omar where the Second Temple had been located. Omar then asked Ka'ab where he should establish a place of prayer.

Ka'ab answered: "By the rock," known in Hebrew as the Even Shetiyah (Foundation Stone). Omar replied that Ka'ab was still following Judaism, noting that he had noticed Ka'ab removed his shoes when they ascended to the Mount. Omar said he would not establish a mosque by the Rock, but rather facing towards Mecca and the Ka'aba.

Muthir al-Ghiram, a 14th-century Arab historian of Islamic traditions, provided a similar account of Omar's decision not to locate a mosque on the Foundation Stone. Like Al-Tabari, al-Ghiram emphasized Omar's intention to separate the Muslim prayer site and rituals from those holy to the Jews. Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Wasiti, an 11th-century preacher in the Al-Aqsa mosque, also reported that the Dome of the Rock was not used as a mosque.

Muslim scholars like eighth-century Abd al-Rahman and 13th to 14th centuries Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya rejected the idea that Islamic tradition attributes any sanctity to the Temple Mount for Muslims. Al-Jawziyya denied the holiness of the Sakhrah (Foundation Stone in Arabic), saying all traditions to the contrary are false. The Foundation Stone, he said, is the direction of prayer for Jews and holy to them like Shabbat.

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In more modern times, the Waqf's own "A Brief Guide to Al-Haram Al-Sharif, Jerusalem," published in 1925, explicitly stated with reference to the Temple Mount: "Its identity with the site of Solomon's Temple is beyond dispute."

It added: "This, too, is the spot, according to the universal belief, on which 'David built there an Altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.' " In other words, the Waqf's own "Guide" admitted that the Jewish connection to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount is indisputable.

Criticizing Abbas' speech is not enough. His blatant antisemitic rhetoric on the world stage at the United Nations is immoral and inexcusable. It is long past time for the United States to end its funding of the Palestinian Authority.

Farley Weiss is president of the National Council of Young Israel. He is an intellectual property attorney for the law firm of Weiss & Moy.

Leonard Grunstein founded Project Ezrah and serves on the Board of Revel at Yeshiva University and the AIPAC National Council.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Antisemitic congresswoman Ilhan Omar is currently attending the World Cup in Qatar with Secretary of State Antony Blinken. This is, of course, an outrage, all the more so because of its wider implications: Blinken and the Biden administration are effectively mainstreaming Omar's antisemitism.

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The likely next Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, has stated that he will push for Omar's removal from the House Committee on Foreign Affairs due to her antisemitism. In the past, McCarthy bravely supported and obtained the removal of Iowa Republican congressman Steve King from all committees because of his support for white supremacy.

I personally spoke to McCarthy about this matter on March 31, 2019 when he was the keynote speaker at the National Council of Young Israel dinner. He specifically mentioned his opposition to Omar and his removal of King. However, removing Omar from the Foreign Relations Committee is not sufficient. To make it absolutely clear that antisemitism will not be tolerated in Congress, Omar must be removed from all committees, along with her fellow antisemitic congresswoman Rashida Tlaib.

On March 7, 2019, the House passed Resolution 183 condemning antisemitism. The resolution, which passed 407-23, was initiated in response to antisemitic comments made by Omar and Tlaib. The text of the resolution states that "accusing Jews of being more loyal to Israel or to the Jewish community than to the US constitutes antisemitism."

This was due to Omar's Feb. 27, 2019 claim that supporters of a strong US-Israel relationship "push allegiance to a foreign country." Her comments followed a tweet by Tlaib the previous month, in which she attacked Sen. Marco Rubio's anti-BDS efforts with the accusation, "They forgot what country they represent." Rubio responded, "The 'dual loyalty' canard is a typical antisemitic line."

In 2021, Omar posted a tweet that compared the US and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban. This outrageous claim was not a surprise, because it came after two years of numerous antisemitic tweets and statements by Omar. For example, she called Israel's response to its civilians being attacked by 4,000 Hamas rockets "an act of terrorism." She even lamented that Hamas did not have Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system.

On Nov. 30, 2020, Tlaib tweeted, "From the river to the sea Palestine will be free," an open call for the replacement of Israel with an Arab supremacist state. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance adopted a working definition of antisemitism in 2016, which has been widely adopted around the world, including by the US State Department. The definition includes opposition to the existence of a Jewish state. This means Tlaib's comments are quite clearly antisemitic according to the definition the US government itself has adopted.

Neither Omar nor Tlaib has apologized.

FBI Director Christopher Wray recently said that antisemitism accounts for 63% of all religious hate crimes in America, despite the Jews being around 2.4% of the US population. It is clear that Tlaib and Omar's mainstreaming of antisemitism has contributed to this wave of hatred and violence.

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Ironically, their antisemitism is shared by white supremacists such as David Duke, who on March 7, 2019 called Omar "the most important member of the new Congress." Notorious antisemite Louis Farrakhan has also praised Omar for her Jew-hating statements.

It is obvious that action needs to be taken against Omar and Tlaib. The Republican House leadership should also schedule hearings on the rise in antisemitism around the country and on college campuses. It is not surprising that the Democrats' failures to take action against Tlaib and Omar led to Republicans receiving a new high of 33% of the Jewish vote in the Nov. 8 congressional elections. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis received an even larger 45%.

The Jewish community is now looking to McCarthy to show that Omar and Tlaib's antisemitism will no longer be tolerated in Congress. Hopefully, this will lead to Jews feeling safer in America. However, Blinken's trip with Omar to the World Cup legitimizes antisemitism. This is very dangerous for American Jews, who must let McCarthy know that he needs to take stronger action against antisemitism now.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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The ongoing discrimination against Jews on the Temple Mount needs to change. Currently, Jews are not allowed to bring prayer books or a Torah to the site, and cannot wear tefillin. Only recently have small groups of Jews been able to pray quietly during the five hours a day that the Mount is open to them.

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Despite the restrictions, 50,000 Jews visited the Temple Mount over the past year, approximately double that of the previous year. This is believed to be the highest number of Jews to visit the Mount since the Bar Kochba revolt almost 2,000 years ago. The increase has occurred partly because more and more rabbis are permitting visits to the Mount, so long as the visitor goes to a mikvah ahead of time, wears non-leather shoes, and tours areas of the mount that the late Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren considered permissible.

The situation on the Temple Mount today is eerily similar to that of ancient times. In the Talmud, the destruction of the Second Temple is blamed on the actions of Rabbi Zechariah Ben Avkulas. Avkulas was criticized for not speaking up when he witnessed a man named Bar Kamtza being thrown out of a party. In revenge for his humiliation, Bar Kamtza went to the Roman emperor and told him the Jews would not accept the emperor's sheep as a sacrifice. Then, Bar Kamtza put a blemish on the sacrifice to make it unacceptable according to the Torah.

The rabbis wanted to allow the sacrifice to proceed in order to avoid angering the emperor, which they believed was acceptable because a Torah prohibition can be violated to save a life. They rightly feared that the emperor would murder Jews if they did not permit the sacrifice. However, this time Avkulas spoke up. He opposed the sacrifice and prevailed. As a result, the emperor was incensed, which led him to destroy the Second Temple, murdering many Jews and ending all sacrifices.

Many rabbis hold that since all Jews today are considered ritually impure, they are not allowed to go up to the Temple Mount because it may violate the holiness of the site. But they fail to take into consideration that this decision has led to a far greater desecration of the mount: The destruction of Jewish artifacts by the Muslim Waqf, which Israel, unfortunately, permitted to control the Mount after the 1967 Six Day War.

Rabbi Berel Wein famously said that G-d showed which rabbis were correct about whether Zionism would be successful by the many miracles that led to Israel's establishment and survival. G-d's hand is also apparent in regard to the Mount. The most famous ascension to the Mount since 1967 was that of then-Likud leader Ariel Sharon. He visited the site on Sept. 28, 2000 to show his opposition to then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak's offer to give up sovereignty over the Mount to the Palestinian Authority. Within six months of the visit, in March 2001, Sharon became prime minister. His friend, journalist Uri Dan, wrote that it was Sharon's visit to the Mount that catapulted him to head of government.

Today, we see that, in current election polls, there has been an incredible rise in support for the Religious Zionist Party, which has gone from six to 12 seats. This is mainly due to the popularity of Itamar Ben Gvir, who is best known for his frequent public visits to the Temple Mount.

A former legal advisor and deputy director-general of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Alan Baker, recently called on Israel to end its discriminatory practices on the Temple Mount. The religious freedom of Jews should be protected on Judaism's holiest site. Along with this, there must be an end to the Muslim Waqf's desecration of the Mount and its destruction of Jewish artifacts.

At the end of Yom Kippur, we say "next year in Jerusalem." May we also see a year of religious freedom on the Temple Mount.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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The Jerusalem District Court has just allowed criminal charges against Jews who say the Shema prayer in a public place on the Temple Mount, the Jewish people's holiest site. In her ruling, Judge Einat Avman-Muller wrote that freedom of prayer "is not absolute, and it should be superseded by other interests, among them the safeguarding of public order." In other words, the reason for this obscene ruling is antisemitic opposition to such prayers by Muslim radicals.

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It is clear that opposition to Jewish prayer on the Mount, whether from Jordan or the Palestinian Authority, is the epitome of virulent antisemitism. Why would anyone oppose peaceful Jewish prayer if they are not virulent antisemites? And why should Israel capitulate to antisemitism rather than provide security for Jewish worshippers?

The historical record proves that the Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism, the location towards which Jews face when they pray and the site of the two Jewish Temples. In one small corner of the Temple Mount is the Al-Aqsa Mosque, but there was no historical claim by Muslims to any other part of the Temple Mount until after Israel liberated it in 1967.

In 1925, the Supreme Muslim Council published a guide to the Temple Mount for tourists. It said the site's "identity with the site of Solomon's Temple is beyond dispute. This too is the spot, according to the universal belief, on which 'David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.'" The guide further states that Muslim rule over the Temple Mount began in 637 CE, the "year the Caliph Omar occupied Jerusalem" (emphasis added). In 1925, it seems, Muslim leaders gave an accurate historical view of the Temple Mount, acknowledged Jews' historical connection to the site and admitted that two Temples existed on it.

It is not a surprise, then, that when it liberated the site in 1967, Israel found the Temple Mount in disarray, because no Arab leader visited the Temple Mount between 1948-1967 – it was not considered important enough.

Today, the narrative that Muslims have concocted over the past century is very different. Due to their false and antisemitic claims, the holiest site in Judaism, a public place, the Temple Mount, has now become the only site in any democracy where it is illegal for Jews to pray.

This ban is based on the false claim that not just the Al-Aqsa Mosque, but the entire Temple Mount and the Western Wall are holy to Muslims. This claim is compounded by the antisemitic canard that the Temple Mount is not holy to Jews, enunciated in notorious fashion by Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat on July 17, 2000 at the Camp David Summit. Arafat shocked President Bill Clinton when he denied that the Jewish Temples were ever on the Temple Mount. Israeli Ambassador to the US Danny Ayalon, who was present, recounted that President Clinton was furious and devastated. He yelled at Arafat, "Well, let me tell you something, Mr. Chairman: When my messiah Jesus Christ walked on the Temple Mount, he didn't see any mosques. He didn't see Al-Aqsa. He didn't see the Dome of the Rock. He saw only the Jewish Temple."

It is unfortunate that Israel has not responded to such antisemitic denialism as it should. In fact, through a policy of appeasement, it has emboldened radical Muslim riots and intimidation that have changed the status quo on the Mount, and such violence has only increased due to its success. Yisrael Medad recently wrote that the "Waqf Islamic religious trust has altered times of entry and prohibited Shabbat visits for Jews. … The Waqf created new holiday periods, planted tree orchards, paved over new pathways, built outdoor prayer platforms and constructed three new mosques on the Temple Mount."

It is clear, then, that Israel's decision to allow such actions for fear of violence did not work. Instead, the situation has gotten worse. Jordanian and Palestinian Authority officials have made it clear that they will continue these punitive actions in order to end Jewish prayer not just on the Temple Mount, but at the Western Wall as well.

Tayseer al-Tamimi, former chief justice of the PA Religious Court, recently said, "The blessed Aqsa Mosque is Islamic and belongs to Muslims alone … and the Jews have no right to it … or the right to pray in any part of it." He added that the "Al-Aqsa Mosque includes all its courtyards … and specifically its Western Wall." Palestinian Authority Minister of Religious Affairs Mahmoud al-Habbash also asserted that Al-Aqsa "will not be shared with anyone, and no one besides Muslims will pray in it." Last December, Habbash stated that the Western Wall is "an authentic part of Al-Aqsa Mosque only."

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Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh gave his full support to attacks on Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall. At a parliamentary session, he said, "I congratulate all Palestinians and all Jordanian Islamic Waqf workers who stand as tall as a turret, and those who throw stones at pro-Zionists [worshippers at the Western Wall] who defile the Al-Aqsa Mosque." Just a few years ago, Jordan asked UNESCO's World Heritage Committee to reclassify the Western Wall as a Muslim site, and attempted to classify the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel's Tomb near Bethlehem as holy to Muslims alone, so as to erase their sanctity to Jews.

It is clear, then, that Israel's concessions have not worked because the only concession that will satisfy those opposed to Jewish prayer on the Mount is Israel's destruction. The riots and violence will end when Muslim radicals learn that riots and violence will not achieve their political ends, and when Israel eliminates discrimination against Jewish prayer and makes it clear that its policy will be based on what is right and just, not fear of violence. If Israel does so, then Jews' fundamental right to pray at their holiest site will be realized for the first time in 2,000 years.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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The Pew Research Center study on "Jewish Americans in 2020," which was released in May this year, shows that Reform and Conservative Judaism is plummeting, while the number of "unaffiliated" is increasing. The same goes for the Orthodox, the vast majority of whom don't intermarry and have many more children than their non-Orthodox counterparts.

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According to the poll, six in 10 Jews intermarried during the last 10 years, as compared with 45 percent in the previous decade. In contrast, only 18 percent of Jews who married before 1980 has a non-Jewish spouse.

These statistics, which reflect a rapidly changing Jewish world, should be cause for pause, contemplation and action.

Outreach efforts to stem assimilation have not made significant inroads, however. Clearly, then, the current strategy to bring Jews back to Judaism needs altering. The key may lie in an ancient text – in Chapter 3/12 of Pirkei Avot/Ethics of the Fathers – in which Rabbi Chanina Ben Dosa says, "Those whose wisdom exceeds their deeds, their wisdom will not endure; but those whose deeds exceed their wisdom, their wisdom will endure."

In other words, the focus needs to be on persuading Jews to perform mitzvot, God's commandments, many of which will have an impact on the person observing even a few of them. Lighting candles before sunset on the eve of Shabbat, for example – even if one isn't observing the sabbath – even if one is not yet keeping the Sabbath – is a beautiful step in the right direction.

And it only takes a couple of minutes. Former famed Israeli actor Uri Zohar started with this mitzvah, eventually leading to his switching of careers and becoming a renowned rabbi. Literally and figuratively, the impact of the deed on the actor – the one who acts – cannot be overstated.

Unfortunately, rather than getting Jews excited about mitzvot, some outreach organizations emphasize the wisdom of Judaism. But without the mitzvot, the wisdom learned doesn't endure.

Others teach young Jews to serve as an example to others. Yet, this was the approach that Noah took during his 120 years of building the ark, and not a single person followed his example.

Instead, it was Abraham and Sarah who became the first Jews, hosting meals for strangers and speaking to them about God. The Torah says that they taught those with them to act with "charity and justice." Good behavior inspired by wisdom, in turn, created inspiration among their followers.

Furthermore, Jews need to be encouraged to experience Judaism, not simply by visiting Israel or learning about the Holocaust. Much can be learned from the Orthodox about what works and what doesn't.

Orthodox Jews, for instance, take a break from using cell phones and responding to emails one day a week. It's a great process of rejuvenation. Shabbat meals, too, are uplifting, as they provide uninterrupted time for parents and kids to speak and be together, without everyone staring at a screen. It's an essential component of family bonding.

In addition, because they don't drive on Shabbat, Orthodox Jews tend to live within walking distance from one another and form a community.

It's common to invite guests or receive invitations to others' homes for Shabbat meals. Many lifelong friendships and even marriages have come about from such gatherings.

When I told a friend who used to drive to our synagogue that though we enjoyed seeing him on Shabbat morning, it would be better to see him all day, and suggested that he move to the neighborhood, I was glad that he took my advice. He later said that it was the best decision he'd ever made. If I hadn't suggested it, it might not have occurred to him.

A similar thing happened when I witnessed a friend in his 70s laying tefillin (putting on phylacteries) at his grandson's bar mitzvah for the first time since his own bar mitzvah.

"Abe, laying tefillin takes five minutes," I said to him. "Could you do this every day?

He responded with great enthusiasm and engaged in the practice from that day forward. Had I not given him the idea, it's not likely that he would have done it.

The above two encounters illustrate the way in which Jews can bond.

Another bonding custom among the Orthodox is the shivah, the seven-day mourning period after a funeral. Prayer services are conducted in the home of the bereaved family (except on Shabbat, when even the mourners attend them at synagogue.) Meals are regularly provided to the mourners all week, as well.

The shivah, when the bereaved stay at home for a full week and receive guests with whom they reminisce about their lost loved one has been lauded by many as the best way to work through grief.

Happy occasions, too, are enriching. When a baby is born, for example, many Orthodox communities provide one or even two weeks of dinners to the parents. As a father of six, I can attest that these meals were a huge help. Such gestures are a boon to all involved, not just the grateful recipients.

Still, many Orthodox outreach programs stress teaching and learning, without encouraging participants to embrace greater Jewish observance. When I asked teachers of the unaffiliated why they didn't request of male students that they wear kippot while studying, one answered that he doesn't know how to push mitzvot the way I do. Somehow, though, he knew how to push for payment from his adult attendees.

Little gestures, such as that which I suggested to the teacher and those I extended to friends can be magnified. The Internet provides access to assimilated Jews who could just as easily get excited about their Judaism.

Birthright and other groups that bring young Jews to see the miracle of Israel can have a big impact, but follow-ups are needed to ensure that the effects are long-lasting. One such idea is that, upon their return, Birthright participants be invited by Orthodox families to Shabbat meals to observe the beauty of Judaism.

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The Pew study found that only 26 percent of American Jews believe in God, compared to more than half of all Americans. The complexities of the world and the amazing realization of the prophecies of the Jewish people's return to Israel – a military, economic and technological power, with a tenfold population increase in 73 years – should be among the concepts employed to change the figures among Diaspora Jews.

I am among those fortunate Jews able to lead a religious-Jewish life. Sadly, only a small minority of Jews have had such a benefit, and so many more would want to enjoy it, if they could just taste the experience.

We need to be like Abraham and Sarah and bring our fellow Jews into our homes and let them know of the beauty of the religion into which they were born – and, in too many cases, have never ever learned about. Time is running out, and we need to act now.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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A fundamental constitutional right in the United States, embodied in its first amendment, is the freedom of religion. Freedom of prayer is clearly part of freedom of religion. Part of freedom of prayer is the freedom to pray in public spaces. Anyone opposing the right of Jewish prayer, therefore, would be deemed anti-Semitic in America.

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This brings us to Israel. Before the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem, I helped organize the first Jewish afternoon prayer service there, with no concern that it would spark any kind of controversy. In a way, I was right; I found out later that a video of it had garnered more than 10,000 views.

Subsequently, thanks to the Abraham Accords, which recently passed their one-year anniversary, Jewish services and events were even celebrated publicly in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. It was a sign of those Muslim-majority countries' acceptance of freedom of Jewish observance that is so fundamental to the groundbreaking peace deals.

Meanwhile, however, such open Jewish prayer is not permitted at Judaism's holiest site – the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Indeed, Israel actually enforces a ban on organized Jewish prayer, and even audible individual Jewish prayer at the site, while permitting Muslims to pray freely there.

This policy, established by Moshe Dayan after Israel's victory in the 1967 Six-Day War, who gave authority over the holy sites to the Islamic Waqf, continues to be enforced, due to pressure by the Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Egypt. Jordan also prohibits public Jewish prayer at the tomb of Moses's brother, Aharon Hakohen, which is located near Petra. The Jordanian parliament even held a moment of silence for the terrorists who murdered two Israeli policemen guarding the Temple Mount. Amman has also given safe haven to Ahlam Tamimi, who participated in the 2001 Sbarro pizzeria bombing in Jerusalem, in which 15 Israeli and American citizens were killed and more than 100 others were wounded. It has refused US requests for her extradition.

Together with Egypt, Jordan also endorsed a 2016 UNESCO resolution denying any Jewish connection to the Temple Mount, referring to it as a solely Muslim site. The resolution also referred to the Western Wall as Al-Baraq Plaza, and did not acknowledge any connection to Judaism.

This is not surprising, because if you deny that two Jewish temples existed on the Temple Mount, then you deny any Jewish connection to the Western Wall, as well. Nor is it surprising, thus, that on more than one occasion, there have been incidents of Muslims on the Temple Mount throwing stones on Jewish worshipers at the Western Wall below – because they oppose Jewish prayer, too.

Acquiescence to opposition to Jewish prayer goes way back. It was also instituted by Britain in its 1928 White Paper, which prohibited the blowing of the shofar at the Western Wall. The reason that the British gave was that such a ritual would offend and incite the Muslim world.

The decree led to Britain's attempt each year to arrest Jews blowing the shofar at the end of Yom Kippur, in violation of the law. Recently, many of those – who are still alive – had a reunion at the Western Wall to remember their act of religious freedom against the anti-Semitic British decree.

Last week, Jerusalem Magistrates Court Judge Bilha Yahalom ruled that the silent prayer of Jews on the Temple Mount is allowed, saying it cannot be deemed a "criminal act."

Sadly, Israeli Public Security Minister Omer Barlev announced that the government was appealing the ruling, on the grounds that it "endanger(s) the public peace and could cause a flare-up."

He further elaborated that though "the state advocates freedom of worship and prayer for all … in view of the security implications, the status quo must be upheld that the prayer of Jews on the Temple Mount will take place next to the Western Wall and the prayer of Muslims will take place in al Haram Al Sharif."

Bar Lev's appeal was successful. The Jerusalem District Court overturned Yahalom's ruling. According to some reports, Biden administration pressure was behind the appeal.

This runs counter to former US President Donald Trump's "Peace to Prosperity" plan, which – in a historic first – said that Jewish prayer should not be prevented on the Temple Mount.

In an article in the September issue of Commentary, Rabbi Meir Soloveitchik wrote: "The hard truth is that in the past 54 years since the miraculous moment when Jews returned to ancient Jerusalem, the sacred city has itself been rebuilt – but the destruction of the remnants of the Temple has gotten worse. The Waqf has destroyed much archeological evidence of the Temple that once was there, and many Palestinian leaders have denied that the Temple stood there in the first place."

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Many Orthodox rabbis oppose Jews ascending to the Temple Mount for religious reasons. But those rabbis should make clear to those who hold a different theological position that they should support the right of Jews to pray there freely.

It is a travesty that the State of Israel is not protecting this right.

Freedom of religion is only upheld when we stand up and protect it from outrageous threats, such as that of a Muslim uprising. It is time for the Israeli government to do its job and safeguard the right of Jews to pray at their holiest site.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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The modern Olympic Games fundamentally represent peace and goodwill among members of the international community, reflected by mutual recognition of talent and fierce sportsmanship.

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So why, then, is a Palestinian-Arab team allowed to compete in the event for the seventh time without the Palestinian Authority's ever having apologized for the Munich Massacre – which took place precisely at the Olympics – or paid reparations to the families of the slain Israeli athletes?

The long overdue moment of silence for the 11 Israeli athletes murdered by Palestinian-Arab terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics was certainly a step in the right direction. However, most do not know that this brutality against innocent civilians, which expresses the opposite of all that the Olympics represents, was financed by Mahmoud Abbas, the figure who would subsequently become the leader of the PA.

This fact was included in terrorist Mohammad Daoud Oudeh's book From Munich to Jerusalem.

When Oudeh, known by his nom de guerre Abu Daoud, died in 2010, Abbas – who already headed the PA – lauded him as a hero for being the planner, architect and mastermind of the Munich Massacre.

The current head of the Palestine Olympic Committee is Jibril Rajoub. Instead bringing Israelis and Palestinian Arabs closer through the Olympics, Rajoub led the fight against the moment of silence, and then proceeded to praise Olympic athletes who refused to compete against Israelis.

One such athlete was Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine, who refused to face off with Israel's Tohar Butbul. Posting a photo of himself on social media with Nourine, Rajoub expressed appreciation for his "courageous stance refusing normalization."

Rajoub also told an Algerian radio station that "we worked a lot to reach the Olympics … but the Palestinian cause is greater than all of this."

In June 2018, Rajoub made headlines for calling on Argentina to cancel a friendly soccer game against Israel, and encouraged "everyone to burn their [Lionel] Messi shirts and pictures, and to renounce him."

The death threats against Argentina and Messi led to the team's canceling of the match, and spurred the international soccer federation FIFA to fine Rajoub $20,000 and suspend him for a year.

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The outrageous behavior of the Palestinian-Arab leaders is not surprising, as the PA is the only authority in the world with a law that rewards the murderers of Jews and Americans. The PA budget for this "pay-for-slay" policy is now more than $350 million, or approximately 7% of its entire annual budget.

The hatred is not just contained in this one law; it is systemic, embedded in all of its educational and cultural institutions, which hold up the killers of Jews as people to emulate. Indeed, schools, sports events and streets are named after terrorists.

Abbas's speeches to world forums includes anti-Semitic diatribes and Holocaust-denial. It's therefore not surprising that an Anti-Defamation study showed that more than 90% of Palestinian Arabs hold antisemitic views.

Meanwhile, the current Palestinian-Arab Olympic team is made up of seven athletes, none of whom met the minimum qualifying criteria for the event. They were allowed to compete under an Olympic "Wild Card" – a special process for underrepresented countries. It is also obvious that under Rajoub's tutelage, most if not all of these athletes would follow Nourine's example and forfeit, rather than compete against an Israeli.

In full contrast, the epitome of Olympics spirit is Saeid Mollaei, a former Iranian judoka now representing Mongolia, who took home the silver medal in the men's 81-kilogram division, losing the gold to Takanori Nagase of Japan.

It was the first Olympic medal for Mollaei, two years after he left his native Iran, revealing that his national-team coaches had ordered him to lose in the semifinals of the 2019 World Championships in Tokyo, to avoid facing Israel's Sagi Muki in the final. Mollaei subsequently moved to Germany and then acquired Mongolian citizenship. Mollaei and Muki became friends, and Mollaei also dedicated his silver medal to Israel.

The organizers of the Olympics have indicated that they want to put an end to people forfeiting matches to avoid facing any country (although in reality, this appears only to happen only against Israelis). But this is not enough. Instead of giving the PA team special treatment and "Wild Card" entries, it should make clear that any team advocating against facing Israeli athletes will not be admitted to the games. It should also make clear that an apology for Munich and reparations for the massacre should be the minimum required for PA participation.

There is a famous Talmudic expression that those who are merciful to the cruel are destined to be cruel to the merciful. The Olympics can serve as an example, by putting an end to the outrageous conduct of athletes who refuse to compete against Israelis and honoring athletes like Mollaei. This would enhance the ethics of the Olympics and bring the world closer to the prospect of peace.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Polls conducted in 2020 by the Jewish Electorate Institute for organizations like J Street indicated that American Jews don't care about Israel and will always overwhelmingly vote for the Democratic Party.

They further pointed to the likelihood that then-President Donald Trump would receive a similar percentage of the Jewish vote in Florida as he had received in 2016.  An AP exit poll on election day in Florida showed, however, that Trump won 41% of the Jewish vote in Florida, as compared with 2016, when the publication's exit poll showed him winning only 24% of the Jewish vote in that state.

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Unsurprisingly, the Jewish Electorate Institute didn't acknowledge their extraordinary polling errors or adjust their methodology. Nor did it explain the vast discrepancy between its projections and the actual results.

Instead, it recently released another absurd poll about Jewish attitudes. And though its findings were refuted a mere eight months ago on election day, many people are taking it seriously without taking the reason for its having been conducted in the first place: to concoct a basis for anti-Israel organizations to falsely claim that they represent significant parts of the American-Jewish community.

This in spite of a 2019 Gallup survey of the America-Jewish community's political views on Israel, the results of which completely contradict it. More importantly, Gallup wasn't pushing any particular narrative.

According to an article in August 2019 by Gallup senior scientist Frank Newport, "[A]bout nine in 10 American Jews are more sympathetic to Israel than to the Palestinians. (That compares to about six in 10 of all Americans.) Additionally, 95% of Jews have favorable views of Israel, while 10% have favorable views of the Palestinian Authority … significantly more pro-Israel than the overall national averages of 71% favorable views of Israel and 21% favorable views of the Palestinian Authority."

Gallup's extensive polling corresponded with the actual voting patterns of the American-Jewish community, which didn't always vote for Democrats by the large margins of the last three decades. Some 40%, for example, voted for Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower, while only 18% supported Republican Richard Nixon when he ran against Democrat Hubert Humphrey.

But when Democratic candidate George McGovern was perceived as not favorable to Israel, Nixon won 35% of the Jewish vote in 1972 against him. President Gerald Ford was not perceived well by the Jewish community, due to his pressuring of Israel during the two years after the 1973 Yom Kippur War. As a result, Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter received 71% of the Jewish vote, which proved decisive in his close victory over Ford.

Ironically, Carter was then perceived as not being a friend of Israel's as compared with Ronald Reagan – and as a result, Carter received only 45% of the Jewish vote to Reagan's 39%, with the rest going to Independent John Anderson.

In 1992, Republican George H. W. Bush running against Democrat Michael Dukakis received 35% of the Jewish vote. But with Secretary of State James Baker publicly blasting Israel by alleging that it didn't care about peace, Bush's support in the Jewish community dropped to 11%, and he lost the election to Democrat Bill Clinton, who won 80% of the Jewish vote.

The Republican-Jewish vote finally got to 31% in 2012, when candidate Mitt Romney faced Democrat Barack Obama, because many American Jews viewed Obama as being generally unfriendly to Israel and specifically hostile to then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

When Obama ran for re-election, he tried to claim that he was pro-Israel, yet his support in the Jewish community changed more than it did in any other group between his two elections. He won 78% of the Jewish vote against John McCain in 2008, but just 69% of the Jewish vote against Romney in 2012. Romney had not made Israel a major issue in the campaign, but it was a key topic in his last presidential debate, which helped him with the Jewish vote.

More recently, the New York City mayoral primary race was a good example of the importance of Israel to the Jewish community. Eric Adams, the most supportive of Israel among the Democratic candidates, garnered a significant amount of the Jewish vote, which helped him win the primary.  Andrew Yang was making inroads with the Jewish community, until he backed off from his strong support for Israel when it was attacked by Hamas. His support among Jews then plummeted, and he subsequently finished fourth in the primary.

A significant concern to the Jewish community has been the influential role of the "Squad" in Congress and its members' anti-Israel and anti-Semitic statements. Reps Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) have been open about their support for the BDS movement, which – according to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance "working definition" definition – is anti-Semitic.

Instead of viewing their positions as anathema to the Democratic Party, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed both of them for re-election. Worse, she contributed financially to their campaigns.

Tlaib and Omar were joined on May 13 by eight other Democratic House reps speaking against Israel, while it faced the indiscriminate fire of more than 4,000 rockets from Gaza. No Republicans joined in the condemnation.

Indeed, and Republican support for Israel has never been higher, while Democratic support for Israel is at its lowest level since the days of the Carter administration. Though President Joe Biden condemns BDS, there is no indication that he will call on Ben & Jerry's to change its BDS-supporting policies, leaving Republican-run states to take action against the company, which is now owned by Unilever. It should be noted that J Street has outspokenly defended Ben &  Jerry's boycott of Israel and advocates for the Biden administration to cut aid to Israel – so it should be clear to everyone that it is an anti-Israel organization.

The non-partisan polls conducted by AP and Gallup make it clear that the Jewish community strongly cares about Israel. Furthermore, the most important surveys are those that examine voting habits over decades, which illustrate the importance that Israel holds among American Jews.

This, among other reasons, is cause enough to disregard and discredit past and current Jewish Electorate Institute polls.

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Reprinted with permission from JNS.org

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Iran has repeatedly called for Israel's destruction, is the leading exporter and financer of global terrorism and is producing ballistic missiles and pursuing nuclear weapons. The former US administration of President Donald Trump was thus right to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear deal that Iran was violating – and which had led it to increase its military spending by 40%, helping it to keep funding entities like Hamas and Hezbollah.

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Now the administration of President Joe Biden is trying to return to the failed JCPOA – something that even many Democrats are having a hard time grasping.

"I don't understand how you can go back to a deal that was put into place under different circumstances, many years ago," newly elected Democratic member of Congress Kathy Manning (NC-06) told this week's Jewish Insider "Limited Liability" podcast.

She explained: "Some of the sunset provisions have already expired. We no longer have the arms embargo at the UN We were hoping that being in the deal would cause Iran to curb its bad behavior, and perhaps even cease from some of its malign behavior in fostering terrorism around the globe. And what we've seen is that they've done exactly the opposite. We also see that when faced with real economic trouble for its own people, rather than use their resources to take care of their own people, they are using that money to continue to foster and support terrorists around the world. So, when you think about all those things that have changed, or that we've learned from since when the deal was put into place, I don't even understand how you can say, 'Let's get back into the same deal.' We're not in the same world today."

Another incomprehensible Biden move is the sanctioning of Russia for attempting to "interfere" with the 2020 US presidential election on behalf of Trump, yet ignoring American intelligence reports that Iran sought to undercut Trump's reelection. Why doesn't Biden sanction Iran for that? The answer appears to be he only wants to punish foreign governments that he believes worked against him.

But not only is the Biden administration not adopting punitive measures against Iran, it is reportedly considering giving the Islamic Republic extra money, to compensate for Trump's having exited the deal and increased sanctions. Yet, it's clear that any money given to Tehran will be spent on terrorism and missile development. This was proven by the trove of documents that Israel seized from a warehouse in Tehran in 2018, after which Trump exited the JCPOA.

Today, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is demanding clarification from Tehran about the traces of uranium discovered at undeclared sites. It's obvious, however, that it is not for a "peaceful" nuclear program.

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A bipartisan majority in Congress opposes the administration's efforts to renew the Iran deal. While one might argue that the previous administration of President Barack Obama, which signed the deal, had hoped that it would curb Iran's nuclear program, nobody has reason to harbor such false hopes any longer. The Biden administration must change course immediately.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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In fact, this round will likely result in the election of more than the 60 Knesset members needed to form a coalition who are either members or former members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, or who served at one time or another as his chief of staff, during or in between his two stints at the helm. And this isn't even taking into consideration the Haredi and national-religious party members who are likely to comprise another 20 seats.

The real reason for the current electoral disaster is the personal animus on the part of and towards Netanyahu. And when politics gets personal, instability results and everyone suffers.

In the first round of elections, held on April 9, 2019, Likud garnered 35 seats. When combined with supportive parties, Netanyahu could have formed a coalition of 65. All of a sudden, however, his former defense and foreign minister, Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Lieberman, who had said that he would support Netanyahu, decided that he would not join a Likud-led government.

As a result of Lieberman's unexpected decision, a Likud coalition was left with 60 seats, not the 61 required for it to form a government. That seat could easily have been obtained, had Netanyahu not let his personal animus towards right-wing rival Naftali Bennett – then head of the New Right party and currently chairman of Yamina – cloud his party's interests.

Due to Netanyahu's efforts to keep Bennett out of the Knesset by vying for the same voters, New Right didn't pass the electoral threshold. Indeed, his personal animus towards Bennett led to the waste of right-wing votes that could have guaranteed a stable Likud-led government. Instead, a second round of elections was called for and held on Sept. 17 of that year.

That election saw a massive loss of votes for Likud due to a low turnout of its supporters and the simultaneous increase in voter turnout in the Arab-sector. Thus, Likud and its allies only received 55 seats, while Benny Gantz's Blue and White party and its allies received 44. The Joint Arab List, with which Blue and White had said it would never form a coalition, won 13 seats.

Theoretically, again Likud should have been able to form a coalition of 63 seats with Yisrael Beytenu, but Lieberman refused to join a Netanyahu-led Likud coalition, due to his animus towards the prime minister. Yet another instance of personal feelings forcing the country back to the polls.

In the March 2, 2020 election, Likud dramatically improved its performance, receiving 36 seats for itself and a total of 58 with its allies. Again, it could have formed a coalition of 65 if Lieberman hadn't refused to serve with Netanyahu.

Eventually, a logjam was broken with Gantz agreeing to give up his commitment not to serve with Netanyahu, opting instead for a national-unity government. Most of Gantz's party left in the process, and the current government is now ending for its failure to agree on a budget. Hence, the election scheduled for March 23.

Netanyahu is still prime minister and is likely to remain so after the election, with polls showing his party receiving around 30 seats. Bennet's party, Yamina, is polling somewhere around 12 seats, indicating that he is almost certain to become a major minister in the next government.

Former Likud member Gideon Saar (who in the past held ministerial positions) exited the party recently to establish New Hope. Taking a number of fellow disgruntled Likud members with him, and recruiting members of other parties, he may garner around 12 seats. But he, too, has vowed not to serve in a Netanyahu-led government.

Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid party, which is not as politically aligned with Likud, is likely to be the second-largest party, with some 20 seats. And he also refuses to serve in a Netanyahu-led government, even though he previously served as finance minister under Netanyahu.

Lieberman still says that he will not serve in a Netanyahu-led government, and polls show his party receiving around seven seats. The Religious Zionist party is polling at around five. The Haredi parties of Shas and United Torah Judaism are expected to receive about seven seats each.

In a normal world of parties politically aligned with Likud, an easy coalition of well more than 60 seats could be achieved. But because Sa'ar and Lieberman refuse to serve in a Netanyahu-led government, it is possible that the upcoming election will result in paralysis yet again.

Jewish Israelis overwhelmingly favor Netanyahu's policies, but personal animus is leading to the fourth round of elections in under two years. Netanyahu lost a stable, four-year government in April 2019 due to his animus towards Bennett. He learned his lesson and changed his ways, after seeing the self-inflicted damage that his animus wrought.

Lieberman went from being defense minister to foreign minister to the backbenches of the Knesset, with little power and influence, all because of his refusal to serve with Netanyahu. Sa'ar would naturally form a government with Likud and Yamina after the election, if not for his personal animus towards Netanyahu. Sadly, this animus is shared by part of the Israeli electorate, members of which agree with many of Netanyahu's policies, but prefer a government without him.

The personal animus towards Netanyahu needs to end. Like all of us, Netanyahu has his failings, but he also has done tremendous things for the Jewish people. Bennett has been the one politician who was subject to such animus but has not reciprocated, and it's clear that his party would be willing to serve with Netanyahu.

We should always keep our eye on the big picture and remember the famous lesson from Chapter 5 of Pirkei Avot, "Ethics of the Fathers": Those who are slow to anger and quick to forgive are pious.

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Israeli politicians and the electorate can agree to disagree on certain attributes of different people without making it personal; look at all the areas of agreement; and work together for the Jewish people.

Holding grudges is never a good thing; nor is personal animus. Let us hope that this election leads to a stable and successful government in Israel.

Farley Weiss, former president of the National Council of Young Israel, is an intellectual property attorney for the law firm of Weiss & Moy.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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