Likud candidate Moshe Feiglin, head of the Likud’s Jewish Leadership faction, was detained by police on Tuesday morning after bowing down during a visit to the Temple Mount. This is not the first time that Feiglin has been arrested for worshiping on the Mount.
The Temple Mount is the holiest site in the world according to Judaism. It is also home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Police allow Jews to visit the site, but they are forbidden to pray in the area or show other outward signs of worship due to fears that Jewish prayer would inflame Muslim anger.
Palestinian Authority and Muslim leaders have frequently accused Jews and Israel of attempting to harm the Al-Aqsa mosque, and sometimes cite Jewish prayers and rituals as proof of their claim.
A source told Arutz Sheva that police have expressed willingness to release Feiglin if he agrees to certain conditions, but that Feiglin is refusing to sign. Police often ask Jews detained on the Temple Mount to commit to not visiting the holy site for a set period of time.
Feiglin was arrested during the Sukkot holiday for allegedly praying on the Temple Mount – a charge he denied. Then, too, police insisted that he agree to restrictive conditions prior to release, but he refused to sign.
A court ordered his release later in the day, and he walked free immediately.
An association of Temple Mount-related movements protested “the continuing harassment of Jews ascending the Temple Mount, which time and again reaches the point of unbelievable absurdity.”
The movements appealed to “all [political] parties that value human rights in Israel” to speak out against police discrimination at the holy site.
Source material can be found at this site.