Police officer near Temple Mount (illustration)
Police officer near Temple Mount (illustration)Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90

An entire class's annual visit to the Temple Mount was cancelled on Monday, despite advanced coordination with the Israel Police. 

Over 100 students from the Birkat Moshe Yeshiva in Ma'ale Adumim were due to visit the Mount as part of an annual tradition ahead of the Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement - ed.) holiday, along with Rosh Yeshiva (dean) Rabbi Nachum Rabinowitz and Rabbi Yitzhak Shilat.

Police cancelled the visit at the last moment, yeshiva officials said, barring the students from ascending the Mount at all despite their security clearance. 

The students were told that the visit has been rescheduled for when the Israel Police regain full control over the site, and then the entire group will visit together. 

Israel Police have slowed the stream of Jewish visitors to one small group per day in light of violent Muslim rioting at the site, Judaism's holiest. On Monday, just 21 Jews were allowed entry. 

Despite this, hundreds of Jews are expected to ascend the Mount on Yom Kippur Eve, Tuesday morning and afternoon. 

Despite being the holiest site in Judaism, the Temple Mount has been left in the de facto control of the Jordanian Waqf, which has banned Jewish prayerat the site in spite of Israeli law stipulating freedom of worship for all.

Violence has been going on at the Temple Mount complex since before Rosh Hashanah last week, when masked Muslim rioters hurled rocks and fireworks at police on the Temple Mount, as well as firebombs near two entrances to the site.

The clashes continued after the holiday as well. On Friday, masked Muslim youths gathered around the mosque and threw rocks and other projectiles at police who had entered the compound in large numbers and responded with stun grenades. 

Thousands of police officers have been deployed to secure the site, and the Old City of Jerusalem, following the clashes.