The Jerusalem Police closed off the Temple Mount to Jews Thursday after receiving intelligence that Muslims intended to attack Jewish visitors there. Earlier in the day, police limited Jews to a narrow strip between the Mughrabim Gate and the Shalshelet Gate. Jews were then told to leave that area too.
Muslims hurled rocks at a police force that began to comb the Mount’s huge plaza in search of suspects. The police then began to search for those who threw rocks at them.
No one was hurt.
The police said that three Jews were arrested Thursday after they tried to enter the Mount forcibly and attacked policemen.
Violence broke out on Tuesday, the first day of Chol Hamoed Sukkot. Five suspects were arrested – three of them Arabs suspected of carrying knives and two Jews who broke the rules for Jewish visits.
After the Muslim prayers on Tuesday, Arabs began shouting “Allahu akbar” toward Jewish groups but police kept them from getting too close. On that day, police arrested Likud’s Moshe Feiglin, who was questioned and later released.
Moshe Puah, whose father Michael Puah is Director of Feiglin’s Jewish Leadership faction, was arrested for closing his eyes on the Mount. A policeman claimed that the act constituted prayer.
The Temple organizations summed up the first three days of Sukkot with an urgent call to implement a recent recommendation by judge Malka Aviv to set aside an area on the Temple Mount where Jews may pray.