'No one will stop Jews coming back to Temple Mount'

Israeli Knesset Member Moshe Feiglin

An Israeli legislator who made news for visiting Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound declared in a radio interview Sunday that the Jewish people will return to the Temple Mount, currently in Muslim hands.

"No one will be able to stop that momentum of Jews coming back to their homeland, coming back to the city of Jerusalem and coming back, of course, to the heart of the heart of the nation, to the Temple Mount," exclaimed MP Moshe Feiglin.

Feiglin discussed his Mount visit in an interview on "Aaron Klein Investigative Radio" on New York's AM 970 The Answer.

Feiglin, a hard-line member of the ruling Likud party, who also serves as deputy Knesset speaker, explained the political and religious significance of the Mount in the Israeli-Arab dispute.

"The Arabs have a very sensitive spiritual understanding, and they understand that this connection to the Temple Mount, that actually there is a bottom line and the real answer of who this land belongs to," Feiglin said.

"The story here is not about religion. It's also about religion. But the real story here is about sovereignty," Feiglin added. "[The Arabs] understand that if a Jewish kid will pray on the Temple Mount, that means it will show the deep connection of the Jewish nation to the place and … end the debate of who the city, who the mountain, who the land belongs to."

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Earlier Sunday, Feiglin ascended the Mount as part of a movement calling for Jewish prayer on the site.

He was reportedly met with protests from Muslims crying, "Allahu akbar!" when he visited the site, an AFP photographer told reporters.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today urged Jewish leaders and activists to behave "responsibly" in the face of near daily clashes in Jerusalem.

"At this time we must show responsibility and restraint," he said at a cabinet meeting.

Netanyahu also accused the Palestinian Authority and Islamic groups of releasing propaganda to inflame passions about the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

"They are disseminating lies to the effect that we intend to destroy or harm the Al-Aqsa mosque and that we intend to prevent Muslims from praying there," he said.

Tensions have been particularly high since the assassination attempt last week of Temple Mount activist Rabbi Yehuda Glick, who remains at a Jerusalem hospital in serious but stable condition.

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The Temple Mount was opened to the general public until September 2000, when the Palestinians started their Intifada, or "uprising," by throwing stones at Jewish worshipers after then-candidate for prime minister Ariel Sharon visited the area.

Following the onset of violence, the new Sharon government closed the Temple Mount to non-Muslims, using checkpoints to control all pedestrian traffic for fear of further clashes with the Palestinians.

The Temple Mount was reopened to non-Muslims in August 2003. It's been open to non-Muslims only during certain hours, and not on any Christian, Jewish or Muslim holidays or other days considered "sensitive" by the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, or an Islamic trust that governs the Temple Mount.

During "open" days, Jews and Christians are allowed to ascend the Mount, usually through organized tours and only if they conform first to a strict set of guidelines, which include demands that they not pray or bring any "holy objects" to the site. Visitors are banned from entering any of the mosques without direct Waqf permission. Rules are enforced by Waqf agents, who watch tours closely and alert nearby Israeli police to any breaking of their guidelines.