Yehuda Glick
Yehuda GlickMiriam Alster/Flash 90

Temple Mount activist Rabbi Yehuda Glick was acquitted on Thursday of assault and battery charges which police had used for the past 18 months to bar him from visiting the Temple Mount.

Glick, who was critically wounded in an assassination attempt in 2014, had been accused by a Muslim woman, Zoya Badrana, of assaulting her during a tour of the Temple Mount. Badrana accused Glick of throwing her to the ground, resulting in a broken arm.

Israeli police used the accusation as grounds to bar Glick from visiting the Mount.

The charges against Glick were dismissed Thursday morning, however, after Badrana’s testimony had been shown to be false. Without the testimony from their key witness, the police were forced to drop the charges against Glick, leading to an immediate acquittal.

With the case settled, Glick looks to resume leading guided tours of the Temple Mount.

Responding the acquittal, Glick described the behavior of the police as “judicial terrorism”.

“At a time when a citizen is fighting for his life,” Glick said, referring to the attempt on his life in 2014, “he is at the same time forced to fight against a system meant to protect him, but which he finds is actually working hand in hand with our worst enemies, doing something that is sheer judicial terrorism.”