Minister of Internal Security Gilad Erdan (Likud) sent Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon (Likud) a letter Monday, asking him to urgently declare the Arab organizations that create mayhem on the Temple Mount as illegal.
If the defense minister signs a declaration to this effect, security forces will have a freer hand against the rioters.
Erdan has been carrying out behind-the-scenes staff work in the past few weeks, together with police, the Israel Security Agency (ISA, or Shin Bet), the State Attorney’s Office and even the Attorney General, who has agreed to help advance the declaration.
In the discussions of the problem, Erdan was shown evidence that the so-called murabitun and murabitat, as the male and female groups of Muslim mayhem-makers are named, are directed by the northern arm of the Islamic Movement in Israel.
The purpose of their activity is to destabilize the status quo on the Temple Mount, and they have succeeded in creating escalation on the Mount, and in making the security situation there untenable.
Causing friction
“Events on the Temple Mount have led youths to commit acts of terror in the past, and could do so again in the future,” said sources close to Erdan. They added that the murabitun and murabitat’s activities on the Temple Mount have caused much friction and violence between the organizations’ members and Jews visiting the Mount.
Erdan’s letter to Ya’alon was accompanied by professional opinions from the Israel Police and the ISA.
Erdan’s bureau said Monday that the aggressive and threatening behavior of the Arabs on the Temple Mount affects the compound’s routine very negatively, endangers the public and makes it difficult to maintain the peace.
Jews who ascended to the Temple Mount Monday heard an unfamiliar sound – the sound of quiet.
The Jews reported that for an unknown reason, the “murabitat” – the Muslim women who are always in hand to assault Jews visiting the Mount, screaming and cursing and throwing objects at them – were not present.
In recent weeks, there has been an escalation in Muslim violence against Jews at the Mount. Last week, an olah hadasha – a new Jewish immigrant to Israel – was physically assaulted by the murabitat.
Jews who ascended to the Temple Mount Monday heard an unfamiliar sound – the sound of quiet.
The Jews reported that for an unknown reason, the “murabitat” – the Muslim women who are always in hand to assault Jews visiting the Mount, screaming and cursing and throwing objects at them – were not present.
