Jerusalem District Court Nixes ‘Quiet Prayer’ By Jews On Temple Mount As It ‘Endangers Public Welfare”

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Jerusalem District Court judge Aryeh Romanov overturned a decision by the Magistrates Court and prohibited ‘quiet prayer’ by Jews visiting Temple Mount.

Last week, judge Bilha Yahalom ruled that a restriction order issued against Aryeh Lipo, a regular visitor to Temple Mount who had prayed quietly there on Yom Kippur, was illegal. Yahalom explained that quiet prayer does not constitute a disturbance of the peace. “The petitioner stood at the side with a friend or two. There was no crowd around him and he prayed quietly and I did not find that the religious activities he performed were external and noticeable,” Yahalom explained. Right-wing groups hailed the decision as authorizing such prayers on the Mount.

The police were directed by Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev to appeal the lower court’s decision to allow quiet prayer,  claiming that such prayer is a ‘change in the status quo which endangers public welfare and could cause friction’.

Romanov accepted the appeal, stating that “in light of the security considerations, the status quo which allows prayer for Jews at the Western Wall and prayer for Arabs on Temple Mount should be upheld.”

Right-wing groups fumed that Bar-Lev, son of former Israeli Chief Of Staff Chaim Bar-Lev, “does not know his role,” since “he continues to curry favor with Aymen Odeh and his friends and is doing everything not to deal with Arab violence and its causes. He has no authority, even if he presumes it, to rescind the historic connection between the Jewish nation and Temple Mount.”