Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas for what he said was an “inflammatory speech” about Jerusalem’s holiest site, the Temple Mount, saying Abbas’ statement was undermining efforts for peace in the region. Speaking during a visit to Gulf emirate of Qatar, Abbas charged that Israel was intending to destroy Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, which sits atop the remains of the two biblical Jewish temples. "The Israeli occupation authorities are using the ugliest and most dangerous means to implement plans to erase and remove the Arab-Islamic and the Christian character of east Jerusalem," he said, making no mention at all of city's 3,000-year-old Jewish history.
The Temple Mount is the most sacred site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam. “Abbas knows full well that there is no foundation to his contemptible remarks, including his baseless and irresponsible claims regarding the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Netanyahu said. “This is a harshly inflammatory speech from someone who claims that he is bent on peace. The time has come for the Palestinian leadership to stop denying the past and distorting reality.” Netanyahu emphasized that all faiths were guaranteed freedom of worship in Jerusalem.
Violence had erupted on Temple Mount last Friday when hundreds of worshippers protested against rumored plans by far right activists to enter the shrine. The rumor was false, according to Israeli police. One Palestinian was killed, and 11 Israeli police officers were injured in violence related to the site over the weekend.
In his speech, Abbas charged that Israel wanted to build a temple “on the ruins of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.” He said this was the “latest battle in the war aimed to erase and remove the character of the Arab-Islamic Jerusalem.” The Palestinian leader was speaking at a conference in the Gulf emirate’s capital Doha on Jerusalem.
According to Jewish law a third temple cannot be built until the time of the Messiah. Until that time, most rabbis say, Jews are forbidden from entering the compound for religious reasons.
Last week, Palestinians inside the mosque threw rocks at a group of Christian tourists, and police arrested 18 of the alleged perpetrators. In another incident, Palestinians threw rocks at two US Congressmen who were visiting the nearby Mount of Olives along with a delegation of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish organizations. Nobody was hurt. Jews have been buried on the Mount of Olives for centuries, including many rabbinical sages and cultural figures. Tombstones have lately been smashed at the site.
