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MKs propose access to Temple Mount for Jews

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Knesset members on the left and right have proposed a new law which would allow Jews to pray on the Temple Mount.

The bill, co-authored by right-wing Likud MK Miri Regev and Labour MK Hilik Bar, is an attempt to overturn the current ban on Jewish worshippers at the site, currently reserved for Muslims.

Ms Regev said: “There is no reason that Jews should not be allowed to pray in the holiest site in the world. I firmly believe that each event of Muslim unrest on the Mount should lead to its closure to Arabs.”

“The prime minister is not the only decider on the issue,” she continued. “If the proposal does not pass I'll turn to the High Court for Justice in a public petition until Jews are allowed to pray with tallit and tefillin on the Temple Mount.”

The proposal, which has yet to be submitted to the Knesset floor, aims to divide Jewish and Muslim prayer spaces in a similar arrangement to that which exists at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron.

The Temple Mount compound area has often been the scene of violent confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli security forces. Last month, a number of Palestinians rioted, threw stones and firecrackers at police after the site was opened for Jewish tourists.

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