Com. Yohanan Danino
Com. Yohanan DaninoFlash90

Police Chief Yohanan Danino on Wednesday slammed what he called “a threat to the continued existence of Israel” - no, he wasn't talking about Arab terrorism, but rather the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism.

Specifically Danino claimed the "threat" was posed by public officials who ascend the Mount hoping to pray at the holy site despite Jewish prayer being banned by the Jordanian Waqf, and for other "unnecessary things."

These public officials, Danino said without mentioning any names, aim to change the status quo on the Mount, which, since 2000, has prohibited Jews from praying on the site despite Israeli law guarantee religious freedom, due to the fiat by the Waqf that enjoys de facto rule at the site.

Speaking at a ceremony at Hebrew University, Danino said that “we are a country that is constantly under threat of annihilation, and this is something our neighbors have made very clear to us.”

Among those threats, of course, is the potential for an Iranian nuclear weapon, but there are other things that can be just as destructive, Danino said.

“To me, the Temple Mount is no less of an existential threat to Israel than any bomb," he said. 

The MKs who visit the Mount to pray or visit are trying to change the discriminatory status quo, “and they are inciting the entire Muslim world just to get some votes. The results will be a tragedy for Israel," said Danino.

“When elected officials say 'I am ascending the Temple Mount in order to change the status quo,' they become a security threat to the State of Israel,” Danino added.