A win-win solution on the Temple Mount
Many have tried, but always failed, to resolve the issue of tensions occasionally flaring over praying on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, but the solution is not so difficult.
On Eid al-Adha, the Muslim Festival of the Sacrifice, Jews are prohibited entry to the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif compound as per the status quo determined 52 years ago at the direction of Moshe Dayan, the then-all-powerful Israeli defense minister. While Israel claims sovereignty over the Temple Mount, the site is managed by Jordan, through the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf.
It is difficult to explain to a foreigner why this place generates so much division and violence. The leadership regimes of the Israelis and Palestinians are primarily secular, and Orthodox Jews actually oppose visiting the Temple Mount. In fact, the chief rabbinate has decreed that ascending the Temple Mount is forbidden. Following the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, all Jews for generations to come are considered impure, thus they cannot enter the holy site where the Temple was located. Those Jews who do enter the area are secular or “somewhat religious” national extremists.
