'Close the Temple Mount to Arabs - not Jews' (Video)

By Staff Reporter
Posted on 07/16/17 | News Source: Arutz-7

Constitution Committee Chairman says Israel must hold exclusive control over Temple Mount for security. 'We can't rely on anybody else.'

Knesset Constitution Committee Chairman MK Nissan Slomiansky (Jewish Home) told Arutz Sheva that lessons must be learned from the serious attack on the Temple Mount on Friday, when two Druze Border Policemen were murdered by terrorists on the Temple Mount.

"The terror attack on the Temple Mount is shocking, and I share my condolences with the families of our Druze brethren," says Slomiansky. "The lesson we must derive from the attack on Friday is that security must be ours on the Temple Mount. We can’t rely on anybody else. If they don’t agree, we’ll close the Mount.”

Slomiansky addressed the rise in terror over the weekend. "Apparently if we try to be ‘okay’ with them and conduct negotiations, they start with terror. In the Constitution Committee we have enacted a law to combat terror that provides extensive tools to security forces for fighting terror quietly.”

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In response to the question of whether the closure of the Mount was not a reward for terrorism, Slomiansky replied, "I said to close the mountain to the Arabs, not to the Jews. Regarding Jews ascending, this is something controversial. At the time, I asked Rabbis [Mordechai] Eliyahu and [Avraham] Shapira about the matter and they said not to ascend, so I don’t. A lot of people do ascend, and that’s totally okay. The moment we are not on the Temple Mount, we lose our grip. Since 1967 we have had the dilemma between the rabbis' instruction not to ascend the Mount and the loss of control over the Mount. It’s a conflict.”

Slomiansky believes that there is room to reexamine the issue. "Today most of the rabbis of religious Zionism are of the opinion that we should ascend the Temple Mount, and from the moment the rabbis who forbade ascending passed away, the majority do ascend. Everyone will act according to his belief, but from a security standpoint, we are the only ones who should have control there. If they search the Temple Mount, I would not be surprised if they found weapons there."

Slomiansky also addressed the fact that the terrorists were Israeli Arabs. “On the one hand, I was surprised. The Israeli Arabs are part of the people, but we have to know that there is destructive propaganda and that there are many Israeli Arabs who are being carried away by it. We have to keep a close eye on the issue of the Arabs of Israel. "

In conclusion, Slomiansky said that the PM must keep his promise and allow MKs and Jews to ascend the Temple Mount. "Why shouldn’t Jews go up? Arabs murdered. Security needs to be in our hands, and whoever doesn’t agree shouldn’t ascend.”