Muslim rioters hurl rocks on the Temple Mount
Muslim rioters hurl rocks on the Temple MountFlash 90

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday blamed "Palestinian extremists" for the constant barrage of Arab rioting on the Temple Mount Monday, vowing nonetheless to maintain the "status quo" of Jewish discrimination at Judaism's holiest site.  

"Israel is committed to maintaining the status quo exactly as it's been for many decades. What we're seeing is Palestinian extremists who are instigating violence through incitement," he said in the presence of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The Jordanian Waqf keeps an iron fist on the Temple Mount and its activities; Jews face constant discrimination and violence for visiting the site, and there is a blanket ban on Jewish prayer there. 

Muslims and Christians, however, have free reign to worship at and visit the Mount - the IDF even allowed 500 Gazans to ascend to the Mount as a "gesture" during peace talks with Hamas in Cairo - and the Jerusalem Arab community recently celebrated the Eid al-Adha holiday there on the same day as Yom Kippur. 

Despite this, Hamas has vowed "bloodshed" on the Mount, and continued to incite an ongoing schedule of Arab rioting there, mostly before Shabbat and on Judaism's most important holidays. 

In the latest incident, a horde of Muslim rioters faced a tense standoff with police on Monday, after they amassed large stockpiles of rocks, fireworks, and other weapons on the Mount in an attempt to prevent riot police from keeping the site calm. 

And last week, unrest at the Mount exploded into unrestrained rioting, resulting eventually in five arrests and four wounded police officers

The snowballing situation has provoked ire from MKs and religious leaders, who have maintained for months that the "status quo" is supporting terror.