Israel lawmakers tour Jerusalem’s Aqsa after 2-year ban

By Kaamil Ahmed

JERUSALEM

Right-wing Israeli lawmakers toured East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque complex after a year-long ban on visits to the site by members of the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) was lifted Tuesday.

The ruling Likud party's Yehuda Glick, a controversial figure who also calls for building a Jewish temple where the mosque currently stands, entered the site early Tuesday morning after waging a weeks-long campaign against the ban.

Glick had protested the prohibition by spending last month outside the compound's gates and defying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's order by briefly entering the site.

Shuli Moalem-Refaeli, an MK for the far-right Jewish Home party, also toured the area during Tuesday’s one-day trial period, which was allowed by police after almost two years of restrictions on lawmakers entering the flashpoint mosque compound.

The ban was first introduced in October 2015 when clashes erupted in and around the site after restrictions were imposed on Palestinian men under 50 entering Al-Aqsa.

Palestinian critics had seen the restrictions as an attempt by Israeli authorities to alter the site’s historical balance of prayer and visiting rights, referred to as the “status quo”.

Non-Muslim worship is not allowed at the site and high-profile visits by non-Jews had previously been managed by the Israeli police in coordination with the Waqf, the Islamic foundation entrusted with managing Al-Aqsa.

On Tuesday, left-wing Israeli activist group Peace Now protested lawmakers’ reentry into the site, confronting Glick at the entrance to the compound.

Arab-Israeli lawmakers, who were also affected by the ban, said they would not enter the compound on Tuesday, preferring to do so at a time of their own choosing.

Mainstream Jewish rulings forbid Jews from entering the holy site, where they believe two Jewish temples once stood in ancient times.

Nevertheless, growing numbers of hardline Jewish activists continue to regularly visit the site, which they refer to as the “Temple Mount” and where they want to see a Jewish temple built.