Jerusalem Magistrates Court Rules: "Starting From Today," Jews and Christians Can Legally Do This on the Temple Mount

News Staff : Mar 16, 2015
Israel Today

"Starting from today, all Jews are allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. There is no longer any crime in prayer itself."

(Israel)—The Jerusalem Magistrates Court reaffirmed earlier this month that it is legal for Jews (and, therefore, Christians) to pray atop the Temple Mount, despite violent Muslim opposition. (Photo via Israel Today)

That legal clarification came as part of a decision in the case of activist Yehudah Glick, who sued the Israel Police for banning him from the Temple Mount for a period of two years after he was filmed quietly uttering prayers while visiting the holy site in 2011.

Glick, who survived a recent assassination attempt by a Muslim terrorist, charged the police with failing to uphold Israel's laws regarding freedom of religious expression.

Israel's Supreme Court had previously ruled that Jews do in fact have the right to pray in any and every place, as do adherents of all faiths, but that police could take measures to avoid violent Muslim backlashes atop the Temple Mount.

The Jerusalem court determined that the police had gone too far in its handling of Glick and other activists, and had crossed the line by impinging on Jews' basic human rights.

Glick was awarded nearly USD $150,000 in damages. His lawyer further told The Jerusalem Post that the ruling meant that "starting from today, all Jews are allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. There is no longer any crime in prayer itself."

Still, many remained skeptical that non-Muslims would now be permitted to openly pray and worship atop the Temple Mount, especially after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year assured the Muslim world that Israel would maintain the status quo there.