Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely. Photo: Screenshot.

Security measures implemented by Israel at the Temple Mount after the recent terrorist attack there in which two policemen were killed are not a “political issue,” but rather are about “saving people’s lives,” the Jewish state’s deputy foreign minister said in a BBC interview this week.

“They’re creating the problem, the Palestinians, by actually committing a terror attack in [this] holiest place, and then they would like us to do nothing,” Tzipi Hotovely said.

The Palestinians, according to Hotovely, are “lying about the facts, they’re lying about the reality and they’re lying about the fact they created the problem [that led to the security measures].”

“The ability of Muslims, next to Jews, next to tourists that are coming from all around the world to this holy place is dependent on the security that Israel is supplying,” Hotovely pointed out.

Watch excerpts from the interview below: