Police Appeal Court Ruling Allowing Jewish Prayer on Temple Mount
by i24 News and Algemeiner Staff
i24 News – Israel’s police appealed a Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court decision on Monday to overturn a ruling that Jews may pray on the Temple Mount.
The court ruled Sunday in favor of Jewish youths who were arrested for bowing and reciting the “Shema Israel” prayer on the Temple Mount last week during Nakba Day.
Police sought to ban the worshipers from the Temple Mount, but the court ruled that the young Jews’ actions did not disturb the peace or interfere with police on duty.
The police appeal said that the court was mistaken in “drawing conclusions about government policy regarding the rules of conduct on the Temple Mount based on an online journalistic report,” according to Israel’s Channel 12.
The prayers were “carried out during a tense period, during which violent riots occurred on the Temple Mount and elsewhere in Jerusalem,” the police filing said.
Palestinian terrorist organizations at the time threatened a response to Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount.
The youths were reminded of the rules before they began to pray, the police said.
The decision sparked outrage from Jordan, which said Monday that the ruling “allows extremists to hold ceremonies at the Al-Aqsa compound.”
The site, holy for both Jews and Muslims, is under the administration of Jordan’s Waqf, an Islamic endowment institution.