The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is more than merely a point of contention. It has been a major flashpoint that has initiated major conflicts and mass killings of Muslims and Jews for decades:

• Over a hundred years ago in April 1920 Nebi Musa Riots erupted in large measure due to Moslem fears of Jewish encroachment on the Temple Mount and the Wailing Wall, with four Arabs and five Jews killed and 18 Arabs and over 200 Jews injured. As bad as that seemed, it was merely the precursor for what followed later that decade:
• In August 1929, disputes over access to the Western Wall resulted in Arab riots with 116 Arabs and 133 Jews being killed, including the massacre of the Jewish community of Hebron.
• Although the 1936 riots which lasted several years were not directly triggered by the Temple Mount issue, much incitement inflamed the situation by imams claiming that Jewish immigration into Palestine endangered the Muslim holy site of Al Aksa Mosque on the Temple Mount.
• In 1969 an Australian Christian tourist tried to set Al-Aqsa on fire which sparked widespread violence throughout Israel.
• “Black Monday,” The Al Aqsa Massacre on October 8, 1990. When the Temple Mount Faithful planned to lay a cornerstone for the Third Temple on the Temple Mount, violent conflict resulted in shooting and riots throughout the country.
• In late September 1996, the opening of a tunnel near the Western Wall of the Temple Mount triggered riots that lasted days.
• On 28 September 2000, Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount was seen as provocative, setting off the Second Intifada which resulted in 4300 lost lives.
• From September 27, 2000, clashes between Moslem worshippers and Israeli security in and around the Temple Mount continued for days due to restrictions imposed at Al-Aqsa.
• After two Israeli policemen were killed by armed assailants on the Temple Mount in 2017, Israeli security decided to put a metal detector at the entrance, resulting in violent protests.
• Rumors of Jews planning to sacrifice a goat on the Temple Mount resulted in conflict. Muslims barricaded themselves in Al-Aqsa and police stormed Al-Aqsa in April 2023.
• The October 7, 2023 massacre was labeled “The Al-Aqsa Flood,” where now tens of thousands have fallen in two years or war.

Not only is it clear the Temple Mount issue has triggered conflict and agony, but the frequency of these flashpoints has been increasing over the years. And it is no wonder: much of the incitement has emanated from the Jerusalem WAQF.

The tradition of inflammatory pronouncements began with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem early in the 20^th Century, but continued into the 21^st Century. The previous WAQF head, Ekrima Sa’id Sabri, made starkly inciteful pronouncements around the turn of the century and beyond accusing the Jews of preparing to destroy Al-Aqsa.

After his appointment as WAQF Head in 2006, Muhammed Ahmad Hussein has publicly stated that suicide bombings could be considered “legitimate resistance.” There is a plethora of examples of call-to-arms sermons from Temple Mount imams in the past couple decades resulting in violence on the mount and beyond.

Is there any hope on the horizon for a reversal from this seemingly universal Muslim antagonism toward the “devious Jew” to peaceful accommodation with the Jewish Abrahamic brother?

One member of two WAQFs, namely the Islamic Waqf Council in Jerusalem and the Jerusalem Endowments Council (Jordanian Waqf), was Dr. Mahdi Abdul Hadi. His rich resume includes earning his PhD in Peace Studies from University of Bradford, UK.

Before his death 15 January 2025, I spoke with him about the problem of this seemingly endless incitement and conflict. While the vast majority of Palestinian Arabs believe the Jew have devious, hidden intentions with respect to control of the Temple Mount, the WAQF could easily neutralize this prime cause for anger and hate and become the prime-mover for peaceful accommodation with the Jews instead of being the prime source of this incitement. He spoke to the idea of the WAQF inviting the Jews to share the Temple Mount and build Solomon’s Temple there anew.

Dr. Mahdi Abdul Hadi said, however, that there is a “slight problem” in initiating this innovative invitation to the Jews: the knowledgeable doctor noted that the Israeli Chief Rabbinate formally prohibits Jews from ascending the Temple Mount. In respect of this official Jewish rabbinic prohibition, it would be undiplomatic, Dr. Abdul Hadi stated regretfully, to begin the process of presenting a public invitation to the Jews: according to proper protocol, the prohibition would need first to be rescinded.

Say, the Israeli Rabbinate responds favorably to Dr. Abdul Hadi’s observation and officially reverse their decades-long prohibition of Jews ascending the Temple Mount, the next question is, what then? Would Al-Aqsa need to be dismantled and replaced?

In fact, a Muslim scholar supports this very idea (“godsholymountain.org’ Website), which sees the mosque presently there alongside a Third Temple,

So, the knotty stumbling block to the Jews rebuilding the Third Temple and by so doing engendering world peace for generations is, oddly, Israel’s Chief Rabbinate.

 Even if the Chief Rabbinate is not forthcoming with an affirmative response, the simple fact that the WAQF made the offer would neutralize all Arab underlying suspicion of “scheming Jewish intentions” regarding the Temple Mount.

Bruce Brill is an independent journalist and former U.S. National Security Agency Middle East analyst (1972-74), Head of the American friends of the Jerusalem Temple Mount (1987, 88), and Executive Director of the Islam-Israel Fellowship (1999-2002). He has been published in Jerusalem Post, Washington Times, Christian Science Monitor, Midstream, Jewish Spectator, and Jerusalem Report.

Incoming Shin Bet chief David Zini held an introductory meeting with the agency’s coordinators, during which he rebuked one of them for using the phrase “West Bank,” i24News reported. During the meeting, one of the coordinators explained one of the measures the Shin Bet uses “in the West Bank,”

in his words. Zini interrupted him and made clear that from now on the agency’s terminology is changing. “What is this ‘West Bank’? From now on you erase that expression from your lexicon – there is only Judea and Samaria,” he said.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin announced on Thursday that he is advancing legislation in the Knesset to establish a special criminal tribunal to try Gazans accused of carrying out massacres and atrocities on October 7, 2023, in a process that could result in death sentences being handed down to those convicted.

The tribunal will be able to try the dozens of Gazans captured in Israel between October 7 and October 14, 2023, suspected of being Hamas operatives for crimes listed under Israel’s 1950 Law for the Prevention of Genocide, which is based on the 1948 Genocide Convention, which can carry a death sentence.

In a joint statement to the press made together with Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee chairman MK Simcha Rothman, and committee member MK Yulia Malinovsky of the Yisrael Beytenu opposition party, Levin stated that advancement of the bill was now possible following the return of all the living hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 and held in Gaza since then.

After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted US President Donald Trump’s invitation to join the peace conference in Egypt, several Arab leaders threatened to boycott the event. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan went so far as to warn Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi that he would turn his plane back to Ankara if Netanyahu arrived.

The threat worked, and Netanyahu canceled his participation in the summit, despite Trump’s encouragement for him to attend.

According to the Turkish state-run Anadolu news agency, Erdogan’s aircraft circled in the air several times before the announcement that Netanyahu had withdrawn from the conference. The agency added a telling detail: “President Erdogan’s plane crossed the approach path to Sharm el-Sheikh and remained for a time over the Red Sea.”

Israel Hayom has learned that the Turks also conveyed a message to the Americans, expressing anger that the move had not been coordinated with them. Following consultations between American officials and later with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s aides, it was decided to cancel the visit. Netanyahu’s office then searched for an explanation for his withdrawal from the summit, eventually settling on “the start of the holiday” as the reason. In reality, there had been no discussion of the matter with the ultra-Orthodox parties or with the right-wing factions in the coalition.

A diplomatic source involved in the events told Israel Hayom that several countries are still not ready for President Donald Trump’s groundbreaking regional initiatives and that more time and progress in other areas are needed to arrange a broad meeting of regional leaders with Israel.

According to the source, such a summit requires lengthy diplomatic preparation and prior agreement on key understandings. “The president’s diplomatic spontaneity did not go down smoothly with several regional leaders,” the source added.

As previously reported by Israel Hayom, Trump is planning a more organized and extended visit to the region in the coming months to announce his “mega deal” — his political, strategic, and economic plan for the Middle East, which is expected to include expanding the Abraham Accords and additional agreements in the fields of energy, trade, and more.

Turmoil, hatred and violence erupted against Jews in the aftermath of the barbaric Hamas massacre against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. This perverse response reveals something of the moral crisis in the West.

It’s also a moment for reiterating the essence of Jewish peoplehood and modern Jewish nationalism, recalling the basics of the Muslim-Jewish conflict and reaffirming resolve in standing by Israel.

Thus, it’s imperative to avoid the pitfalls of leftist indoctrination, historical falsification, antisemitism, Zionist demonization and Islamic dhimmi subjugation. Here are reasons to clarify and justify your stand.

WHO ARE THE JEWISH PEOPLE?

1. The ancient four millennia story of the Jewish people encompasses Torah truth and faith, a vast legal, ethical, scientific, and prophetic heritage, crowned with the Hebrew language and the covenant with the Land of Israel, all of unique longevity as a Jewish treasure bequeathed to the human race.

WHAT DEFINES THE JEWISH PEOPLE?

2. The Jewish ethos uniquely combines a national identity with a universal mission, drawing upon the model of Abraham who in his person and profile was the biblical father of the Hebrews and the teacher of love and responsibility for all people. This is the inherited Jewish spirit and inspiration until today.

WHAT DID THE JEWISH PEOPLE ENDURE?

3. Despite Jewish suffering over the ages — from the Italian ghetto, the Spanish Inquisition, the Russian/Ukrainian pogroms, Muslim massacres, the German-afflicted Holocaust, and Palestinian barbarism — Jewish survival demonstrated resilience, pride, and hope for the eternity of Jewish peoplehood.

WHAT IS THE ZIONIST NARRATIVE?

4. After the long exile from their homeland, dispersed and powerless but forged with memory and determination, Jews under the banner of Zionism organized and mobilized for the return home and miraculously reestablished the Jewish state of Israel in 1948.

DID THE WORLD ACCEPT THE JEWISH STATE?

5. The modern Jewish national liberation movement earned recognition from the international community — the League of Nations in 1920 and the United Nations in 1947 — legitimating Israel’s unqualified political sovereignty in the eyes of the powers and nations of the world.

WHAT WAS THE ARAB RESPONSE TO ISRAEL?

6. Arab and Muslim countries violated Israel’s sovereignty and flouted the United Nations Charter by scandalously denigrating the Jewish state, carrying out aggressive assaults over the decades, infiltrating Israel’s borders, and murdering its people, terrorizing its society and threatening to overrun, conquer, and destroy Israel with the purpose to annihilate the Jews and their state. In recent years, Israel was contending with missiles fired from Lebanon, Iran, and Yemen against its civilian population; terrorism in Judea and Samaria, including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv; and threats against Israelis and Israeli installations around the world.

WHAT IS ISRAEL’S GEO-STRATEGIC SITUATION?

7. The width of the state of Israel in its pre-1967 borders was a mere 9 miles from the Mediterranean Sea (Netanya) eastward to Bat Hefer. It is to these “Auschwitz borders,” in the words of Israel’s Foreign Minister Abba Eban, that countries demand Israel return to for peacemaking and a so-called two-state solution. The conquest of Judea and Samaria [West Bank] after the Six Day War now provides Israel from the sea to the Jordan River with just an implausible 50 miles in width.

HOW DO ARABS IN ISRAEL RELATE TO THE STATE?  

8. Arab citizens in Israel, enjoying rights and opportunities along with Jewish citizens, overwhelmingly reject in principle the state’s Jewish identity, refrain from military service, show solidarity with Israel’s enemies, and participate far beyond their proportion in the population in criminal and illegal activities.

WHAT IS ISLAM’S POSITION TOWARD ISRAEL?   

9. The religion of Islam from its founding dedicates itself to holy war (jihad) as a permanent campaign to convert, expel, or destroy the Jews, commanding Muslims to uproot the Israelis from so-called Palestine and assure the superiority and rule of Islam by enforcing Sharia Law as the will of Allah.

WHAT DO ISRAEL AND MINORITY PEOPLES SHARE?

10. Israel is the bastion of inspiration and assistance for minority peoples in the Middle East, such as Kurds, Druze, Kabyle, and Christians. Their common challenge is in facing Islam and Arab peoples as hegemonic forces that smother pluralism and diversity on the ethno-religious regional map. Israel beams a light in their dark skies.

COMMENTARY

Mark Twain (1835-1910) celebrated the immortality of the Jew “exhibiting no decadence and no slowing of his energies.” Winston Churchill (1874-1965) considered the Jews “the most formidable and remarkable race.” These accolades, which characterize the start-up nation in science and technology, medicine, and agriculture, are jarringly divorced from the harsh realities that afflicted Jews and the existential threats and dangers Israel faces.

An especially insightful comment regarding the menace and its ramifications came in a 1968 essay from author Eric Hoffer (1902-83) after Israel successfully extricated itself from the traumatic peril prior to the June 1967 war: “I have a premonition … as it goes with Israel so it will go for all of us. Should Israel perish the Holocaust will be upon us.” These words should resonate thunderously in the West in 2025.

In 1979, Hoffer again linked the past while prophetically peering toward the future:

“A world which did not lift a finger when [Adolf] Hitler was wiping out six million Jewish, men, women and children is now saying that the Jewish state of Israel will not survive if it does not come to terms with the Arabs [and Muslims].

“My feeling is that no one in this universe has the right and the competence to tell Israel what it has to do in order to survive. … It is Israel that can tell us what to do.

“It can tell us [the West] that we shall not survive if we do not cultivate and celebrate courage [and not] bargain with terrorists, court enemies and scorn friends. … The world feels no shame when it betrays Jews. It is as if fate has placed the Jews outside the comity of mankind.”

Europeans and others, in a new political constellation that recalls an earlier one, now set the scene for the murder of the Jewish state by recognizing and establishing a Palestinian state, which is code language and battle plan to bring the Jews to their knees, break their back, and annihilate stage by stage the indefensible shriveled Jewish state.

A De-Christianized Europe would offer the sacrificial Israeli lamb on the altar of pagan enlightenment. Symbolically, Rome succumbing to Mecca will abandon Jerusalem without an ounce of remorse.

LAST WORD

Whatever spurious and acquisitive ambition motivated colonialist Spain to go to Mexico, Portugal to Mozambique, Britain to Kenya, France to Algeria, and the Netherlands to Java — it is not a mystery why the Jews set out and returned to the Land of Israel. They bonded with the land of their ancestors after wandering the globe.

The indigenous sons and daughters of the Land of Israel are not foreigners in a strange land — unlike those mentioned above — but the descendants of the native Hebrew-Israelite-Jewish inhabitants from time immemorial.

Dr. Mordechai Nisan taught Middle East Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.