JERUSALEM POST
by Michael Freund
May 19, 2014

Jews and Muslims both pray at the Tomb of Samuel the Prophet outside Jerusalem, and at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. There is no reason why they cannot do so at the Temple Mount.

After several exasperating decades, one of the thorniest and most painful issues on Israel’s public agenda may at last be heading toward a resolution. In a move underlining the national consensus regarding the Temple Mount, Likud MK Miri Regev and Labor MK Hilik Bar have reached across the aisle to prepare a joint bill that would allow Jews to pray at the nation’s holiest site.

The proposed law, which is slated to be submitted soon to the Knesset for approval, would right one of the most glaring wrongs on Israel’s human rights record. It would end discrimination against Jews who wish to commune with their Creator on the Mount without fear of arrest.

Don’t believe the media’s attempts to paint this bill as “controversial.” The only thing controversial about it is that there is a need for such a bill in the first place. Incredibly, despite Supreme Court rulings upholding the right of Jews to freedom of worship on the Temple Mount, the police have never – not once! – allowed this right to be exercised.

Instead, Jews who visit the Mount are subjected to humiliating restrictions designed to ensure that they do not pray. These include prohibitions on silently moving one’s lips, lest one clandestinely try to beseech God, or even bringing a Bible or prayer book to the site.

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