The Minister for the Development of the Negev & the Galilee, Yitzhak Wasserlauf from the Otzma Yehudit party and Ayala Ben Gvir, the wife of the Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, ascended to the Temple Mount this Thursday morning on the occasion of Jerusalem Day. "I missed this place," Wasserlauf said in while on the complex.
In addition, Members of the Knesset Dan Iloz, Ariel Kellner, and Amit Halevi from the Likud and former members of the Knesset Shuli Moalem, went up to the Temple Mount. Jerusalem Day marks the Hebrew calendar date on which the city of Jerusalem was reunified under Israeli rule, ending the 19 years of Jordanian occupancy in East Jerusalem.
#WATCH: MKs @dillouz, @ArielKallner, @HaleviAmit, and fmr. MK @Shuli_MR sing Israel's National Anthem on the #TempleMount in #Jerusalem.
ā Israel National News - Arutz Sheva (@ArutzSheva_En) May 18, 2023
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Meanwhile, another Likud member, MK David Bitan, attacked his fellow party members in a radio interview. "I see the fact that a number of Knesset members from the Likud are going up to the Temple Mount today as inappropriate," he said. "This is not what should be done. People have become extremists."
MK Iloz replied: "The Temple Mount is the holiest place for the Jewish people. It's not my first time there and I'm always excited to go up the mountain. It is impossible to accept a claim that the presence of Jews in a certain place, certainly not in the holy place for the people of Israel, is an extreme act" He added: "As someone who immigrated to Israel from abroad, to the Jewish state, out of deep belief in Zionism, I cannot accept an argument that says that the mere presence of Jews in a certain place is a provocation. This is unacceptable. I intend to ask God Almighty in this holy place to act for the unity of the people of Israel and for the prosperity of the State of Israel in the face of many challenges."
Hundreds of Jews visit Temple Mount, thousands more expected to attend Flag March in J'lem Haaretz https://t.co/lxt5wTQpMU pic.twitter.com/1kB4mm2kiX
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Former members of the Knesset Shuli Moalem also joined the officials and thousands of Israelis ascending to the Temple Mount. "I go up the mountain all year and especially on this day. In the place where our sovereignty is summed up, we go up with joy out of a deep connection to this place." The head of the Temple Mount administration Rabbi Yosef Elboim told the members of the Knesset on the Temple Mount: "It was not obvious in recent years that members of the Knesset go up to the Temple Mount. Three members of the Knesset together, it is a great thing that we see the rule of Israel here, from the legislature to the Temple Mount, we are all for it. We must bless this."
