Israelis are growing increasingly fed up with the lack of religious freedom for Jews on Jerusalem's Temple Mount, Judaism's most holy site, because of ongoing fear over a Muslim backlash.
For years already, unofficial restrictions bar Jews and Christians from praying atop the Temple Mount or carrying a Bible to the holy site. Muslim watchers keep an eye on all Jewish and Christian visitors, and Israeli police are quick to arrest those who violate said restrictions.
Of late, the police have simply been keeping the Temple Mount closed to all non-Muslim visitors.
Israeli Temple Mount activists hope to begin reversing the situation with a mass protest scheduled for Wednesday (August 7), the start of the Hebrew month of Elul, according to Israel National News .
Speaking to the website, right-wing Israeli lawmaker Moshe Feiglin (Likud) said that barring Jews from the Temple Mount was no doubt connected to the new US-driven peace negotiations, and warned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be strong-armed into an agreement that surrenders the "very heart of Jerusalem to foreigners, to Islam."
Feiglin insisted that at this point, the only way to prevent the Temple Mount from once again being taken from Israel is to demonstrate en masse and to be ready for confrontation and personal sacrifice.