Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, Director of the Temple Institute, said that he was convinced that the shooting of Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick last week was almost inevitable, given the poor security situation in recent months.
Rabbi Ariel, a good friend of Glick's, was one of the main speakers at a conference at the Begin Center in Jerusalem where Glick was shot after hosting an event to help in efforts to re-establish a greater Jewish presence on the Mount last Wednesday night. He was rushed to Sha'arei Tzedek Medical Center for immediate medical treatment and remains in serious condition.
Glick - who founded and heads the LIBA Initiative for Jewish Freedom on the Temple Mount was deliberately targeted for nationalistic reasons. Security forces killed an Islamic Jihad terrorist, a resident of Abu Tor in southern Jerusalem, on Thursday morning, on suspicion that he was involved in the shooting of Glick.
“I was in the hospital and I visited Yehuda,” Rabbi Ariel told Arutz Sheva. “I find it very difficult to even speak about this. Unfortunately it is clear to us now just how much the Muslims are fighting against us. They fight each other in a ferocious manner, and they are bringing that method of fighting to the Temple Mount. I am shocked at what happened,” he said.
Glick is a former employee of the Absorption Ministry, “but on the day of the disengagement in 2005 he quit that job, preferring to be unemployed that to work for a government that would do such a thing,” Rabbi Ariel said. “We invited him to become the Director General of the Institute, a job he took and carried out for five years, with many great accomplishments on his part.” After leaving the Institute, Glick established the LIBA Initiative.
Unfortunately, he said, the Mount “has become a stronghold of Islam. The Arabs get tons of money just to have a presence there and intimidate Jews who dare to ascend the Mount. The shooting of Yehuda, under these circumstances, was probably unavoidable.” To prevent another shooting, he said, strong action must be taken to break the backs of the Islamist fanatics who are holding the Mount and inciting against Jews.
Hundreds gathered on Saturday night at Jerusalem's Safra Square by the Municipality building to pray for Glick's recovery. Doctors at Shaare Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem where Glick is undergoing intensive treatment said on Saturday night that his status continues to improve, although he remains in critical condition.
Dr. Ofer Merin, Deputy Director of Shaare Tzedek, said last Friday "as times passes the danger decreases, he has great luck. The four bullets that punctured his body passed right by critical points, there was a hit on the lungs, a hit next to the spinal column, but damage was not inflicted on the spine. He apparently will be able to return to an almost fully normal lifestyle, but we aren't trying to jump to conclusions now."