MK Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) on Thursday called on the government to announce new regulations regarding Jewish prayers on the Temple Mount, as a response to the shooting of leading Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick.
Speaking to Arutz Sheva, Shaked said that Glick is an example of a human rights activist who conducts himself in a democratic manner, and criticized many of the leading Israeli media outlets that chose to describe Glick as an “extremist right-wing activist”.
“Yehuda would always ascend the Temple Mount without provocation. I hope the police will come around and let him hold tours on the Temple Mount, and that the Prime Minister will come to his senses and approve the regulations on visiting times to the Temple Mount, so that the Jews can continue to visit and pray there,” she said.
Shaked added that there is no need to change the law in order to do this, but only to sign regulations already drafted by the Deputy Minister of Religious Services Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan.
“The Prime Minister should just apply the sovereignty over Jerusalem which today, unfortunately, is being abandoned, and should, together with the Minister of Justice, sign these regulations,” she said.
“It is true that previous governments have made mistakes,” added Shaked, ”but the situation is not irreversible and we should find the right balance and allow everyone to enter the Temple Mount.”
Early Thursday morning, security forces killed an Islamic Jihad terrorist, 32-year-old Mu’taz Hijazi of Abu Tor in Jerusalem, who was the prime suspect in Glick’s shooting.
According to one report, the forces tried to arrest the suspect, but were forced to shoot him after he retaliated violently.
Glick – who founded and heads the LIBA Initiative for Jewish Freedom on the Temple Mount was shot in the chest outside the Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem, after the shooter pulled up in a motorcycle or scooter and confirmed his identity before shooting.
He had been speaking, minutes before being shot, at an event for Jewish rights on the Temple Mount that had hosted leading religious figures and MKs. Likud MK Moshe Feiglin was with Glick as he was shot.
The Director of General Surgery Unit in Sha’arei Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem, Prof. Petachya Reisman, said on Thursday that Glick is still not out of danger but is improving.
