Gimpel: Temple Mount quote was 'parody of fanatics'
US-born Bayit Yehudi candidate rejects as 'media spin' claims that he is an extremist that wants to blow up Temple Mount after video released in which he says "it would be incredible" if Dome of the Rock was "blown up."
By JPOST.COM STAFFBayit Yehudi candidate Jeremy Gimpel 370(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Bayit Yehudi candidate Jeremy Gimpel defended himself against accusations that he is an extremist on Sunday, after a 2011 video clip in which he spoke about the Temple Mount being "blown up" and the Third Temple being built in its place was released in the media over the weekend.The clip, which was first uncovered by Channel 2 television, shows the 14th candidate on the Bayit Yehudi list addressing a group of Christian Zionists in Florida in November 2011. Gimpel states in the clip, “Imagine today if the golden dome, I’m being recorded so I can’t say blown up, but let’s say it was blown up, right, and we laid the cornerstone of the Temple in Jerusalem. Can you imagine what would be? None of you would be here. You would be going to Israel. It would be incredible.”Speaking in an interview to Channel 2 on Sunday, Gimpel stated that his quote was a "parody of the fanatics that want to blow up the Temple Mount. Of course I am against this."Gimpel referred to the Tzipi Livni Party's calls for him to be disqualified from Tuesday's election for inciting racism as "media spin.""They ruled not to disqualify [Balad MK Hanin] Zoabi, and they're going to disqualify me?" Gimpel asked incredulously.The US-born candidate accused Likud of attacking Bayit Yehudi repeatedly during the election campaign and painting the religious Zionist party's rabbis as extremists.Gimpel added that Bayit Yehudi is against the formation of a Palestinian state and opposes dividing Jerusalem, but "no one in the party calls for violence at the Temple Mount or to blow it up."
Related TagsJeremy Gimpel
if(catID != 151){
var cont = `Take Israel home with the new Jerusalem Post Store
