Nir Barkat at terror attack scene
Nir Barkat at terror attack sceneHadas Parush/Flash 90

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat on Wednesday spoke about the collapse of security in the capital city, which has been shaken by several recent high-profile terrorist attacks.

"There's no doubt that the personal security is eroded in the city of Jerusalem, but we will overcome the challenge, we've gone through harder things," said Barkat at a conference in Sderot.

Barkat has had something of a back-and-forth relationship as far as his stance on the recent wave of terrorism goes, in September telling the City Council that he wants the media to hush-up the terror attacks. He likewise complained about the Jerusalem Light Rail company for not remaining silent over the near-daily rock attacks on the trains, saying "no one was hurt" in the window smashing attacks.

The mayor changed his tune in early October with a very public appeal to the government to take action over the skyrocketing terrorist attacks.

On Wednesday Barkat also spoke about the Temple Mount, where the Jordanian Waqf continues to enjoy de facto control and ban Jewish prayer at the holiest site in Judaism, while Arab rioters launch frequent attacks on police to block Jewish visits.

"We must preserve the status quo on the Temple Mount," stated Barkat. "I don't love it personally but we are all obligated to it."

Contrary to Barkat's statements, Israeli law in fact ensures religious freedoms such as the right to worship at holy sites, meaning the Israeli police's submission to the Waqf's dictates are in contradiction to the law.

Nevertheless, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has bent over backwards to promise Jordanian King Abdullah II that Jewish prayer will continue to be forbidden at the holiest site in Judaism.

It was revealed on Wednesday that Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich (Yisrael Beytenu) is advancing a law to blacklist Hamas-linked Islamist groups gathering on the Mount to riot and block Jews.