Chief Rabbi: Jewish prayer on Temple Mount is crime punishable by death

Shalom Aharon Baadani, second victim of light rail attack, laid to rest in Jerusalem.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Funeral of Jerusalem terror attack victim (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Funeral of Jerusalem terror attack victim
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Shalom Aharon Baadani, the teen who died Friday after sustaining critical wounds in a terror attack at the Jerusalem light rail this week, was laid to rest at the city's Givat Shaul cemetery.
Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef spoke at the boy's funeral and centered his talk on the wave of violence that has swept through the capital.
He lashed out at Jews who go up to the Temple Mount, suggesting they played a role in the recent surge in violence, which has raised concerns of a possible third Palestinian intifada, or uprising. "We must stop this," he said, directing his comments at Jewish worshipers who insist on praying at the contested site, despite the controversies it stirs. "Only then will the bloodshed end."
The prominent rabbi went so far as to liken Jewish prayer atop the mountaintop that is holy to both Muslims and Jews, to a sever crime "punishable by death."
The passing of 17-year-old Baadani marks the second death in Wednesday's terror attack that left a Border Police officer dead and over a dozen people injured after a car slammed into pedestrians waiting at a light rail stop.
Three Israelis were severely injured in the incident and one was remains in serious condition, Hadassah University Medical Center said after announcing Baadani's death.
The man who carried out the attack, a 38-year-old Shuafat resident, was shot and killed by security forces, after he crashed his and went on to attack bystanders with a metal crowbar.