Jerusalem police issued an administrative decree on Tuesday against Yair Kehati, a central activist in the “Return to the Mount” movement, distancing him from Temple Mount and the area leading to the site.
Kehati was distanced from Temple Mount for a period of three months, without any court hearing, after claims were made that is a danger to public peace while on Temple Mount.
Kehati responded to the decree, stating that “Distancing me from Temple Mount only intensifies within me the strength and motivation to act to free Temple Mount from the hands of the Jordanian enemy who controls the Mount, and from the Israeli Police Department who implements all of the demands made by the Wakf and the Jordanian government. The Jews need to be in control of Temple Mount; the Jews and the Jews alone. Would anyone ever dare think that the Israeli government would control Mecca?”
Kehati further stated that “I am currently investigating how I can fight the decree. I will not allow the police to crush the Jewish presence on Temple Mount.”
The “Return to the Mount” movement responded to the decree, saying that “The Israel Police Department’s boycott war against Temple Mount activists in general and members of our organization in particular proves, without a doubt, that the police are dancing to the tune of the forceful and violent Arab flute.”
“It is intolerable that a Jew is distanced from Temple Mount in the true fashion of a dictatorship. This, after the police continue to fail at court. What point is there to a justice system if the police determines that activists must be distanced (from Temple Mount) without a trial and without a judge?!” the movement added.
Attorney Yitzhak Bam, who represents Kehati, said that “My client was distanced from Temple Mount by administrative decree, without any ostensible reason. The police refused to hand over even a shred of evidence regarding the reason for Kehati’s distancing, apart from slogans such as ‘dangerousness,’ and ‘fears that he will disrupt public order.’
“It is intolerable that the Israeli Police Department continues to crush the basic rights of citizens in a democratic state. The policies of trampling the law and the rights of individuals on Temple Mount have crossed the line.”