Collective Restrictions on the Entry of Muslim Worshippers to the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif

Collective Restrictions on the Entry of Muslim Worshippers to the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif: A Violation of the Spirit of the Status Quo and a Key Factor in the Outbreak of Violence in Jerusalem
November 2015
Written by Aviv Tatarsky, Researcher
English translation: Shaul Vardi; English editing: Betty Herschman

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On October 24, 2015, in an attempt to calm the wave of violence in Israel and the Occupied Territories, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu published a statement concerning the status quo on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif. The statement summarized the agreements reached between Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority, with US mediation, on the status quo. Netanyahu’s statement is an important one, and one that will hopefully serve to reduce the current elevation of tensions surrounding the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif. That being said, the prime minister’s statement fails to address the most problematic aspect – and a direct cause – of the eruption of violence during the Jewish high holidays over the last two years: collective restrictions imposed on Muslim access to the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif. This paper analyzes the collective restrictions imposed on the entry of Muslim worshippers and demonstrates how the changes introduced in the summer of 2014 blurred the distinction between Muslim worshippers and Jewish visitors to the Compound, a violation of the spirit of the status quo at the site. Our analysis shows that collective restrictions were a central factor in the outbreak of violence in Jerusalem, and the product of strong political pressure applied on Netanyahu by supporters of the Temple movements within his coalition. While his statement reaffirms, and indeed sharpens, the distinction between Muslim worshippers and Jewish visitors, the lack of reference to the abolition of collective entry restrictions casts doubt over its lasting effectiveness. This volatile aspect of the issue was not addressed in the publicized portions of the understandings between Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and the Kingdom of Jordan, raising concerns that even if Netanyahu’s statement helps quiet the current wave of violence, it will not prove sufficient in the long term.

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A. Analysis of the Main Sections of Netanyahu’s Statement
Public attention has focused mainly on two clauses of Netanyahu’s statement:[1] first, the explicit declaration: “Israel will continue to enforce its longstanding policy: Muslims pray on the Temple Mount; non-Muslims visit the Temple Mount” and second, the decision to install cameras to transmit live pictures from the holy site. It is of course possible that in addition to the published agreements, additional understandings were reached that have not been made public; the analysis herein addresses information as published.

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 1. Israel Will Continue to Enforce its Longstanding Policy: Muslims Pray on the Temple Mount; Non-Muslims Visit the Temple Mount
Netanyahu’s statement marks the first time that the prime minister – indeed, any Israeli in an official capacity – has confirmed that Israeli policy dictates that non-Muslims, and Jews in particular, are not permitted to pray on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, and that their status on the Mount is that of visitor.
One of the primary contributors to tension on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif in recent years has been the growing demand by the Jewish Temple movements and their supporters in the Israeli government to permit Jewish prayer on the Mount.[2] The Palestinian public fiercely opposes prayer by followers of any other religion at Islam’s third holiest shrine. While the Israeli perception tends to be that most of the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif is an open area, rather than a mosque, for Muslims the term “the Al-Aqsa Mosque” refers to the entire compound (herein, “Compound”), not only to the mosque itself, located in the southern section of the Compound.[3] Both the Temple activists and many Palestinians see the demand for Jewish prayer as merely the first step toward the Israeli seizure of the Haram al-Sharif. Throughout the years of increasing pressure and violence on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, Netanyahu has refrained from publicly clarifying his position regarding Jewish prayer in the Compound, effectively leaving the Israel Police with the responsibility of preventing Jewish prayer without the backing of any government decision. This arrangement has contributed to the strengthening of the Temple movements, on the one hand, and the growing sense of threat among the Muslim public, on the other.
Netanyahu’s declaration on this matter is extremely important, however belated. It is critical to note, however, that although the demand to permit Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount has created considerable agitation among the Muslim public for several years, in practice the Israel Police has acted to prevent prayer by Jews visiting the Compound, with only a small number of exceptions. The reason for the outbreak of violence that started during Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) lies elsewhere and, as will be explored, Netanyahu’s statement fails to address this root cause of the violence.

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2. Installation of Cameras to Transmit Live Pictures from the Holy Site
Every Temple activist, Police officer, and Waqf official is already equipped with photographic devices and the events on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif are well documented. Even without security cameras, the Israel Police removes both Jews who violate its instructions and Muslims accused of creating a disturbance.[4] The problem is not a lack of documentation but rather the contradictory ways in which each side interprets events. While Muslim sources claim that the entry of Temple activists to the Haram al-Sharif constitutes incitement, and that their protests are therefore legitimate, Israel demands that Jews be able to visit the Mount without disturbance. It is therefore difficult to see how the installation of cameras will help clarify disputes or ensure that all those involved conduct themselves in accordance with the agreed upon rules.

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B. Statement Omissions
What was lacking from Netanyahu’s statement (and we emphasize again that there may be additional understandings that have not been publicized) was reference to Muslim worshippers’ freedom of access to the Haram al-Sharif. While cameras will record what takes place in the Compound, they will not have the capacity to document any Police checkpoints established outside the Compound for the purpose of imposing collective entry restrictions on Muslim worshippers on the basis of age or gender. The statement includes the remark, “Israel believes that those who visit or worship on the Temple Mount must be allowed to do so in peace, free from violence, from threats, from intimidation and from provocations.” This remark serves only to emphasize the absence of a commitment to freedom of access to the Haram al-Sharif for Muslim worshippers. The lack of any explicit reference to Muslim access is extremely significant. An analysis of events during the Jewish high holidays, through October, makes clear beyond a doubt that the imposition of collective restrictions on the entry of Muslims to the Haram al-Sharif constituted – for the second year running – the direct catalyst of widespread Palestinian protests that degenerated into violence and serious terror attacks.

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1. Past Restriction on the Entry of Muslim Worshippers
Since June 2014, when the Police started imposing sweeping restrictions on Muslim entry, there has been a sharp change in Israeli policy on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif. The entry restrictions were referred to as “thinning out,” and were imposed on entire demographic groups, harming individuals who had not violated the law or committed any act of provocation: 

These restrictions were imposed in June 2014, after the publication of recommendations of a special committee appointed by MK Miri Regev, then chairperson of the Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee. The committee was tasked with reviewing entry arrangements for Jews to the Temple Mount.[5] Restrictions were only removed following the meeting of Prime Minister Netanyahu, King Abdullah of Jordan, and US Secretary of State Kerry in mid-November 2014. For many months no collective restrictions were imposed. An erosion of this policy became apparent during the summer of 2015 and restrictions were reinstated during the Jewish high holidays:

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2. Entry Restrictions Leading to the Outbreak of Violence
The imposition of collective entry restrictions in 2014 was accompanied by a wave of protests and violent riots around the Police checkpoints in the Old City, with violence spreading to most of the neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. While additional factors contributed to the wave of violence in the summer of 2014, entry restrictions to the Haram al-Sharif played a fundamental role. Even after the end of the conflict in Gaza, and months after the murder of Muhammad Abu Khdeir, continued restrictions – particularly the repeated denial of entry during part of the Jewish high holiday season – exacerbated the violence and sparked a number of serious terror attacks. Similarly, this year the outbreak of violence in East Jerusalem started immediately after the imposition of restrictions on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.[6]  The clashes spread from the Old City to other neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, intensifying as the imposition of entry restrictions continued. Later the violence was manifested in the initial stabbing attacks distinguishing the current wave of violence.[7] 
The connection between collective entry restrictions and street violence was demonstrated in the clearest possible terms in November 2014. Within one week of the elimination of entry restrictions, the level of violence fell dramatically and terror attacks stopped. Similarly, when entry restrictions imposed in 2015 during the Jewish high holidays were lifted for several days during the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, the level of violence in East Jerusalem fell substantially, only to rise again after the restrictions were reintroduced during Sukkot. This year’s wave of violence has proven more difficult to control and Israel’s belated attempt to calm the situation by removing restrictions after Sukkot proved unsuccessful.
It is important to emphasize that in contrast to the public Palestinian response to collective entry restrictions imposed on entire demographic groups and the punishment of worshippers who have not broken any laws, the monthly detention of dozens of Palestinians involved in disturbances and their removal from the Compound did not spark widespread Palestinian protests and certainly no violent incidents. On the last day of Eid al-Adha, when the Police confronted Palestinian youths who had barricaded themselves in the Haram al-Sharif[8] but did not prevent Muslim worshippers from entering the Compound, the clashes ended by early morning, did not spread to the rest of the Old City, and did not inflame tensions in East Jerusalem. In other words, the response at the street level in East Jerusalem to the removal of individual Palestinians proven to be involved in disturbances varies substantially from the reaction to the collective denial of entry to a large demographic group to which no provocative behavior can be attributed.
We should clarify that the purpose of this analysis is not to in any way justify violence, but rather to understand the sequence of events that fuels and provokes violence, and to examine whether the understandings reached by Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority as reflected in Netanyahu’s declaration constitute an adequate response. The pattern of events both this year and in 2014 indicate that collective entry restrictions and the growing sense of threat they have created among the Palestinian public regarding Israel’s intentions toward their holy site can be directly linked to both waves of violence in Jerusalem.

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3. Collective Entry Restrictions as a Change in Israeli Policy
Even before the summer of 2014, the Police occasionally imposed collective restrictions on the entry of Muslim worshippers to the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif. However, since the summer of 2014 such restrictions have been imposed in a new format that constitutes a significant change in policy. While in the past, such restrictions were imposed for periods of several days, over the past 18 months restrictions have persisted over many days, weeks, and months. Moreover, while in the past the Police imposed restrictions following security incidents, since the summer of 2014 the primary variable impacting the denial of Muslim entry has been Jewish visits to the Compound.
The imposition of collective restrictions on the entry of Muslims to the Haram al-Sharif is a policy change implemented by the Police in accordance with the instructions of the political establishment, and as the result of extremely strong political pressure applied on the Police by the previous Knesset coalition. The Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee, responsible for oversight of the Police, was headed by MK Miri Regev during the previous Knesset and was the font of the most concentrated pressure. For a period of 18 months, beginning in April 2013, Regev held a discussion almost every month concerning the situation on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif – a total of 16 discussions initiated by Regev during this period, compared to just five discussions on the subject held by the committee over the entire preceding decade. The discussions became a forum for politically pressuring the Police to act on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif in a manner contrary to its traditional approach, a ritual whereby senior Police officers were forced to listen for hours as Temple activists and Members of Knesset such as Regev, Feiglin, Strock, and others accused them of being “cowards” and of backing down in the face of “Palestinian terror” on the Temple Mount.
Prime Minister Netanyahu did nothing to stop this aggressive campaign of intimidation and although the subject became increasingly prominent in public discourse, he refrained from making any public comments to restrain its tone. While Police officers explained that they did confront those responsible for causing disturbances on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif and did issue restraining orders against offenders, right-wing members of Knesset continued to promote a goal they had apparently set for themselves in advance: alongside declarations of the future goal of a division of hours between Muslims and Jews (including repeated references to the arrangement at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron), their immediate demand was for Police to take all steps necessary to ensure that Jews can enter the Temple Mount. Participants frequently proclaimed that Muslims should be prevented from entering the Compound since “they are the side that is rioting.”

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4. A First Step toward Division of Entry Hours at the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif between Jews and Muslims?
The protracted nature of the collective entry restrictions imposed on Muslims and their introduction in the context of Jewish entry to the Mount led the Palestinian public to interpret the change in policy against the background of repeated demands by the Temple movements and elements within the ruling coalition to divide entry hours on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif in a similar manner to that in practice at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron.
MK Miri Regev advocated such an approach multiple times. By way of example, during a Knesset plenum debate on February 25, 2014, she declared: “We will say [on the Temple Mount] ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.’” We will reach a situation where the Temple Mount will be just like the Cave of the Patriarchs: certain days for Jews and certain days for Muslims. I urge the prime minister to have the courage to stand up to the world and say that we believe that every citizen who wishes to go up to the Temple Mount and pray should be able to do so.”[9]
During a discussion in the Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee just a week before Rosh Hashanah, 2014, MK Moshe Feiglin stated: “There is no alternative but to divide visiting hours between Jews and Arabs as is done at the Cave of the Patriarchs… They have brought it on themselves: the Arabs, the extremist Islam that currently rules on the Mount have brought this on themselves.”[10] In practice, the reality on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif between September 13 and October 6 was created during a period when Jews entered and the entry of Muslim worshippers was restricted.

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C. Was the Status Quo on the Temple Mount /Haram al-Sharif Violated?
Thus far we have described the change in Israeli policy on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif and the way in which this change led to Palestinian violence that erupted in Jerusalem in 2014 and 2015. Did this change of policy constitute a change by Israel of the status quo governing the Compound? The Palestinians and Jordanians have argued forcefully that Israel violated the status quo while Israel denies this allegation and argues that such claims constitute incitement. 
First, it is important to point out that the status quo has never been defined in writing. Accordingly, it is difficult to determine whether any understandings on the matter were violated. Israel is right to state that it has not permitted Jewish prayer on the Mount. The number of instances in which Police officers have failed to intervene to prevent Temple activists from praying at the site is very small and constitutes the exception to the rule.
On the other hand, the imposition of collective entry restrictions on Muslims described above not only gravely violates Muslim freedom of worship; it is also incompatible with the meaning of the status quo. The introduction of restrictions, justified on the grounds that they are needed in order to ensure Jewish visitors’ entry to the Temple Mount, and the particular frequency of the restrictions during Jewish holidays, constitute a change in the status of Jews on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif and a blurring of the distinction between their status and the status of Muslims in the Compound.
No one disputes that, according to the status quo, Muslims go to Haram al-Sharif as worshippers, whereas Jews go to the Temple Mount as visitors. It should be obvious that within a site that serves as an area designated for prayer for the followers of one religion, these worshippers should enjoy a clear priority over visitors. By way of analogy, no one would find it acceptable that Jewish prayer at the Western Wall be disrupted in order to permit visits by others. Denying access to Muslims, day after day and over a period of several weeks, in order to enable Jews to enter the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, reflects a blurring of this distinction and substantially contradicts the spirit of the status quo.
Israel explains that the denial of entry to Muslims during the Jewish high holidays was premised on concerns about potential disturbances. While the Israel Police maintains responsibility for responding to disturbances on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif involving Palestinians, there is no need to impose sweeping restrictions on Muslim entry for this purpose. Clashes between security forces and Palestinian youths throwing stones and barricading themselves in the mosque have usually occurred in the early morning, with the Police bringing disturbances under control within an hour or two. Thereafter, the Police could have permitted Muslim worshippers to enter the Compound. In most cases it chose not to, instead allowing Jewish visitors to enter. If the Israel Police believes that it cannot maintain public order when Jews and Muslims are simultaneously present on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, the status quo demands that worshippers enjoy priority over visitors. By adopting the reverse approach, day after day, the Police effectively establish that Muslims do not enjoy priority over Jews in the Compound. This change occurred during the Jewish high holidays in 2014 and was repeated this year, in contradiction of the spirit of the status quo.
The blurring of the distinction between the status of Jews and Muslims on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif is no trivial matter. This change directly and immediately impairs the ability of a large, law-abiding Muslim public to pray at its holy site. The change must also be seen against the background of the growing strength of the Temple movements, the political support they enjoy, and the repeated demands made by the movements and by members of the coalition and the government to permit Jews to pray at the site, and to divide entry hours at the site according to the model used at the Cave of the Patriarchs. Within this context, it is not difficult to understand why the change is perceived, particularly by Palestinians, as a first step toward implementation of broader changes.

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D. Conclusion: Further Clarifications regarding Site Management Needed in order to Prevent Additional Waves of Violence
The collective entry restrictions imposed on Muslim worshippers constitute a change of policy – a policy change resulting from intensive pressure applied on the Police by the Temple movements and their supporters within the coalition.
The effect of this policy change is to blur the distinction between the status of Jews and Muslims on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif in contradiction of the spirit of the status quo. This development cannot be extracted from the waves of serious violence that have affected Jerusalem over the past two years.
Despite its importance, the subject of collective entry restrictions was not mentioned in Netanyahu’s statement and in the public understandings between the relevant parties. This absence is particularly significant in light of a report by Barak Ravid published in Ha’aretz on October 27, 2015 concerning the behindthe-scenes background to Netanyahu’s statement. “U.S. officials said they decided not to try to solve the problem of the status quo on the Temple Mount or to ‘reinvent the wheel.’ Instead, they would find issues on which the two sides agreed regarding the Mount and express them publicly. Second, they would restore channels of communication between Israel and Jordan, first of all over the Mount”[11] [emphasis added].
This insight raises concerns that despite the importance of the initiative, it will not prevent – particularly in the long term – reintroduction of the same actions that impaired Muslims’ freedom of worship at the Haram al-Sharif, reinforced their sense that Israel is planning more extreme measures on the Haram alSharif, and sparked waves of serious violence in 2014 and 2015. We have just recently seen evidence that the agreements reached between Netanyahu and Abdullah in November 2014 did not prevent the introduction of new entry restrictions during the Jewish high holidays this year or the subsequent waves of violence. Nothing in Netanyahu’s statement would appear to prevent the reinstatement of collective entry restrictions in the future.
This concern is intensified by the realization that no solution has been offered regarding the root causes of the conflict surrounding the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif. It goes without saying that the Temple movements have not abandoned their current demand to permit Jewish prayer on the Mount.[12] Following the publication of Netanyahu’s statement, key activists such as Yehuda Glick, Arnon Segal, and others were quick to declare that “it is impossible to prevent Jews praying on the Temple Mount.”[13] They urged their supporters to visit the Mount in even larger numbers in order to impel this change. Despite some of these movements openly challenging and advocating the violation of government policy, they continue to receive state funding. The growing infiltration of the Israeli education system by the Temple movements is a particularly alarming trend. Even if Netanyahu adheres to the agreements, or acts to curb members of his own coalition (as he did recently following a comment by Deputy Foreign Minister Hotovely),[14] no action is being taken to prevent the expansion of the Temple movements, which are continuing to gain public and political strength with the goal of securing a definitive change in the status quo.
Muslim opposition to Temple activists’ entry to the Temple Mount/Haram alSharif remains as fierce as ever. It can be assumed that even if the wave of recent terror attacks subsides, religious Jewish visitors to the Mount will encounter aggressive shouting, harassment, and hostile protests. Extremist Islamist movements and elements with an interest in fomenting public agitation will continue to leverage the threat felt by Muslims – whether within Israel or beyond the Green Line – caused by the growing power of the Temple movements.
Even with the new understandings in place, we must conclude that Israel cannot afford to sit back and take no further substantive actions. Policy makers must be aware of the damage caused by collective entry restrictions that are wholly inconsistent with the spirit of the status quo. 

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[1] For the full statement, see: https://www.facebook.com/IsraeliPM/videos/vb.124149704266450/11803771419... /?type=2&theater 
[2] For a description and analysis of the demand for Jewish prayer on the Mount, see Ir Amim’s report on the subject (http://www.ir-amim.org.il/sites/default/files/Dangerous%20Liaison_0.pdf).
[3] This perception is not a new phenomenon or the product of extremism resulting from the conflict on the Temple Mount/Al-Haram a-Sharif. An eighth-century description of the construction of the Dome of the Rock explains that “the Dome of the Rock is situated in the heart of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.” Moreover, while every mosque must have a minaret, the building in the southern section of Al-Haram a-Sharif does not have one, while each of the four corners of the compound has a minaret, highlighting the status of the entire compound as a mosque. 
[4] Since June 2014, the Israel Police has issued between 10 and 40 restraining orders a month preventing Muslims from entering Al-Haram a-Sharif. The number of restraining orders against Jews is much smaller.
[5] Chairperson Miri Regev decided to appoint a special subcommittee to discuss “visits by Jews to the Temple Mount.” The members of the subcommittee were David Tzur (Hatnuah), Ze’ev Kalfa (Jewish Home), and Nachman Shai (Labor). The subcommittee focused on the issue of Jewish access to the Mount, and did not discuss the question of prayer. It submitted its recommendations on June 23, 2014. Among other proposals, the subcommittee called for stricter actions against those causing disturbances on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif. Although, to the best of our knowledge, none of the subcommittee’s recommendations were implemented, the imposition of collective restrictions on the entry of Muslims to the Compound began immediately after their publication. 
[6] On the morning of September 13 (the eve of Rosh Hashanah), violence spread from the Haram al-Sharif to the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. The same evening, Palestinian youths threw stones at vehicles close to the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood, killing Alexander Levlovitz. The continued imposition of restrictions was accompanied by disturbances in many Palestinian neighborhoods. The first stabbing attacked occurred during the festival of Sukkot; Aharon Bennett and Nehemia Lavi were murdered in the attack.
[7] Some of the perpetrators of attacks in both 2015 and 2014 left notes in which they declared that “the attack on Al-Aqsa” was the reason for their actions.
[8] Ha’aretz, 28 September 2015, “Clashes Shake Jerusalem’s Temple Mount as Israel Marks Sukkot,” http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.677830.
[9] Times of Israel, February 25, 2014, “Debate on Temple Mount worship rocks Knesset,” http://www.timesofisrael.com/debate-on-temple-mount-worship-rocks-knesset/.
[10] Minutes of a discussion of the Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee on the subject of “Police preparations for Jewish visits to the Temple Mount during the Tishrei festivals,” 22 September 2014.
[11] Ha’aretz, October 27, 2015, “Behind the Scenes: How the Temple Mount Camera Deal Prevented a Serious Crisis With Jordan,” http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium- 1.682470.
[12] This is their short-term demand. As we have shown in previous reports, the consistent statements of the various leaders and movements make clear that their goal is to establish the Temple in the place of the Dome of the Rock. They view securing the right of prayer on the Mount as a means to gain public and political strength in order to further progress toward this change.
[13] JTA, 28 October 2014, “Jews seeking right to pray at Temple Mount vow to continue,” http://www.jta.org/2015/10/28/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/jews-seeki...
[14] Ha’aretz, 26 October 2015, “Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister: I Dream of Israeli Flag on Temple Mount, “ http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.682462

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