It's a mistake to allow right-wing MKs on Temple Mount, Police Chief Danino says

Amid ongoing ‘holy war’ in capital, police commissioner condemns religious incitement by Jews and Arabs, says status quo must be enforced.

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD
MK Moshe Feiglin near the Western Wall after ascending the Temple Mount. (photo credit: REUTERS)
MK Moshe Feiglin near the Western Wall after ascending the Temple Mount.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
“Anyone who wants to change the status quo on the Temple Mount should not be allowed up there,” Police Insp.-Gen. Yohanan Danino said Tuesday, criticizing Attorney General Yehudah Weinstein for enabling right-wing politicians to incite Arab unrest by visiting the disputed holy site.
Danino’s rebuke, amid what some are calling a “religious war” in the capital centered around the landmark, comes a day after activist Rabbi Yehudah Glick was released from a city hospital after nearly being killed by an Arab terrorist over his advocacy for greater Jewish prayer rights there.
“There is an unequivocal statement by the Israeli government since 1967 that there is no intention to change the status quo,” he said, noting restricted prayer rights for Jews there.
Citing an “extreme right-wing agenda to change the status quo on the Temple Mount,” Danino made his position clear: “We say leave the Temple Mount alone.”
The police chief, whose force has been beleaguered by months of rioting and terrorist attacks, added that declarations by politicians, such as Moshe Feiglin, to change current policy does little more than incite the “Muslim world.”
“This is Israeli policy,” he continued. “Let’s not forget that the attempted murder of Yehudah Glick was by a Muslim [over his advocacy for Jewish] prayer on the Temple Mount.”
Moreover, as egregiously erroneous claims by Hamas and Islamic Jihad continue to assert that the Israeli government plans to destroy Al-Aksa Mosque, resulting in chronic terrorist attacks and rioting in the capital, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly reiterated his position that the status quo must not change.
Despite Netanyahu and Danino's calls for maintaining the current restrictive visitation policy to avoid greater escalation in the capital’s crisis, Feiglin, aided by a number of right-wing activists, continues to challenge their stance as unconstitutional.