BICOM

An eight-month long ban on Knesset members visiting the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is set to be lifted if security provisions can ensure safety.

The move is spearheaded by Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein. Israeli media claim that Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein consulted last week with Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich and Jerusalem District Commander Maj. Gen. Yoram Halevy, who both approved lifting the ban. The Knesset Ethics Committee is set to meet today in order to amend existing directives and once again permit Temple Mount visits by MKs.

The ban was instituted by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in October, at the height of a wave of violence, which saw near-daily Palestinian attacks on Israelis, mainly through stabbings and vehicle ramming. The Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City, which is holy to both Jews and Muslims, was a particular focal point for the violence. Palestinian youths routinely barricaded themselves inside the al-Aqsa Mosque at the site, armed with firebombs, rocks and other projectiles and clashed with Israeli forces. Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu, repeatedly denied Palestinian allegations that Israel wishes to alter the status quo at the site, which sees Jewish prayer banned.

Due to the violence, Netanyahu instructed Israel’s police chief to ban government ministers and Knesset members from the Temple Mount until further notice, in order to reduce tension. Since then, both Arab and Jewish MKs have refrained from visiting the site. Meanwhile, the intensity of attacks has slowed, although at least 35 Israelis have been killed in the violence since October.

Joint Arab List MK Talab Abu Arar recently said that he would visit the Temple Mount regardless during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began earlier this week. The arrangement proposed by Edelstein, will apparently permit visits by Arab MKs during the last week of Ramadan. If quiet is maintained, Jewish MKs will then also be allowed to visit the Temple Mount.