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The Jewish High Holiday season, spanning September 22 to October 14, unfolds this year against the backdrop of Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza, renewed talks on a potential ceasefire deal, a wave of international recognitions of a Palestinian state, and the second anniversary of the October 7 Hamas-led attack. In the West Bank, military repression, economic suffocation, and settler violence continue to escalate.
Against this backdrop, the High Holidays once again mark a peak period for Temple Movement activists and their government allies, who use this period to intensify efforts to overturn the status quo on the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount (HAS/TM) and consolidate Israeli control of the site. In the past two years, these actions have been increasingly framed by Temple activists and likeminded politicians as part of the same campaign as Israel’s military operations in Gaza—an expression of the far-right’s “Decisive Plan” to impose full Israeli sovereignty between the Jordan and the Mediterranean.
While the status quo on the HAS/TM has been gradually eroded over time, it now faces an unprecedented collapse. Ir Amim’s paper details the developments driving this breakdown—including expanding Jewish ritual and nationalistic activity, restrictions on Muslim worshippers, and the weakening of the Waqf’s authority—and concludes with concrete policy recommendations to help restore and safeguard the fragile status quo.
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