Two Jews who were among visitors to Har Habayis on Wednesday morning 7 Tammuz were arrested. One of the visitors, Dr. Shai Gross of Haifa told an Arab woman “Har Habayis is ours” in response to her offensive remarks. He was removed from the holy site and detained by police. An hour later another Jew was arrested, Akiva Kahana from Yerushalayim. He read pesukim from birkas kohanim, leading to his arrest.
One new regulation since the start of Ramadan is that Jewish visitors may not bring bottles of water on Har Habayis.
Har Habayis organizations are calling on Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan to discontinue the “anti-Jewish policy on Har Habayis” which amounts to every Jew visiting has to concern himself with being arrested for any and every move on holy site.
“We hope the new minister, who expressed criticism over the policies of his predecessor before elections, will instruct police to permit Jewish to visit and exercise freedom of religion and oust the Muslim inciters”.
Gedolei HaPoskim throughout the ages including Gedolei Hador Shlita today have ruled it is absolutely forbidden to visit Har Habayis, even if one does so in line with Halacha including tevila. This is also the ruling of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. This is an Issur Kares.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
2 Responses
Although I personally hold that those that are going onto the Har HaBayis right now are sinning against klal yisrael, non-the-less, these arrests are reminiscent of when the British Mandate would arrest people for blowing shofar on Yom Kippur by the Kotel.
The best way to prevent provocation is to prohibit going on the Har HaBayis.
Here you go reporting again that there is an issue karais to go anywhere on Har Habayis. This is factually incorrect and I have not heard any rabbi state such a thing! Yes, many are against going up, some say that there is a question as to which locations one may go to, but no one says that there is an issue karais to go anywhere on the mount!