Glick to petition High Court over PM’s Temple Mount ban

Glick said on Wednesday that “after a year of quiet on the Temple Mount and in light of the police’s recommendation, there is no logical reason to prohibit MKs from ascending the mount.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Updated: NOVEMBER 24, 2016 00:26
The Temple Mount in Jerusalem (photo credit: JACK BROOK)
The Temple Mount in Jerusalem
(photo credit: JACK BROOK)
Likud MK Yehudah Glick plans to petition the High Court of Justice against the prime minister’s decision to uphold a ban against MKs visiting the Temple Mount, he announced on Wednesday.
Lawmakers have been prohibited from visiting Judaism’s holiest site for more than a year, at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s instructions, though some Joint List MKs have violated the prohibition.
The ban was put into place following an assessment by the police that MK visits spark increased violence, but in recent months, the police have reversed their recommendation and said the visits are no longer a problem. Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan confirmed their findings at the Knesset on Monday.
However, Netanyahu told the Likud faction that he does not plan to change his mind anytime soon, due to sensitive timing.
Glick said on Wednesday that “after a year of quiet on the Temple Mount and in light of the police’s recommendation, there is no logical reason to prohibit MKs from ascending the mount.
“I have no choice but to petition the High Court against the decision,” he stated.
Before becoming an MK in May, Glick was an activist for equal Jewish prayer rights on the Temple Mount. In 2014, he survived an assassination attempt by a Palestinian terrorist who shot him point-blank and called him an “enemy of al-Aksa.”
Also on Wednesday, Zionist Union co-chairwoman Tzipi Livni expressed concern at The Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference that the international community has taken steps relating to the Temple Mount that turned the Israeli- Palestinian conflict into more of a religious one.
Referring to a UNESCO resolution from earlier this year, Livni said: “The Temple Mount is the holiest place for the Jewish people. Referring to it just as the al-Aksa Mosque or Haram al-Sharif is taking one side in the conflict. Don’t do it.
“Any [peace] agreement should not decide whose narrative is more just. We will each keep our own narrative, while making a decision for the future,” Livni stated.
“When the world accepts just one narrative about our holiest place, it can turn the conflict into a religious one – which is unsolvable – unlike a national conflict that can be solved.”