Chief Rabbinate of Israel never agreed to Palestinian rule over the Temple Mount

By Nadav Shragai (Ha'aretz July 4)

The Chief Rabbinate of Israel "never agreed to Palestinian administration of the Temple Mount," announced a special council that met yesterday to discuss the Mount.

The announcement comes on the heels of Sephardi Chief Rabbi Bakshi Doron's statements advocating the maintenance of the status quo on the Temple Mount. The PA currently controls the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque areas there, where it runs its own security and nominates the Mufti. This week, the PA also ran a summer camp on the Mount.

The rabbinic commission declared that "the Temple Mount is the holiest place on earth to the Jewish people. Every council of Chief Rabbis that has existed has reiterated the holiness of the Mount to the Jewish people."

The council recalled that in the first Oslo agreements, prime minister Yitzhak Rabin called for all decisions regarding the status of the holy sites to be made under the advisement of the Chief Rabbinate.

The council said that "all construction and changes made on the Temple Mount constitute a breach of the status quo that has been maintained there since 1967. The council views the changes, as well as the digging and construction done recently, with great seriousness, and calls on the government to prevent all change, construction and digging in this holy place.

In response to appeals made to the Rabbinate to review its halakhic decision barring Jews from visiting the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque compound, the council debated and finally decided not to change the decision.

Chief Rabbi Lau said that a halakhic decision is dictated by the law, not by the political situation at any time, no matter how grave it may be.

Last week police twice prevented the waqf, or Islamic council, from bringing building materials into the Temple Mount, but then there was a change of position and the gates were opened.

The Shin Bet reiterated its recommendation that the prime minister prevent construction materials and heavy equipment such as tractors or trucks from entering the Temple Mount area.

The organization also repeated its belief that the waqf intends not only to install flooring between Solomon's Stables and the Golden (Mercy) Gate, but to deepen it and configure it as an additional prayer area, in addition to Solomon's Stables and the original Al Aqsa site.

Attorney-General Elyakim Rubinstein echoed the Shin Bet's recommendations that Palestinians be prevented from continuing their construction on the Temple Mount.

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