Former Member of Knesset Ibrahim Sarsur, who in the past served as head of the southern faction of the Islamic Movement and a member of the Shura Council, on Monday blasted the decision of Judge Zion Saharai of the Jerusalem Magistrates Court, who ruled that Jews may recite "Shema Yisrael" on the Temple Mount and even bow down while visiting the site, saying that doing so is not considered a disturbance of order or a violation of public peace.
Sarsur called the judge's ruling "political" and wrote, "The decision of a detention judge/Jerusalem Magistrates Court to allow freedom of worship for Jews in the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex is a political decision and not a legal one."
Sarsour also noted that Jordan does not recognize Israel's judicial authority in the Temple Mount compound, stressing that the judge's decision is "null and void" and will "worsen the situation which is already explosive in any case!"
The Islamic Movement and its party, Ra’am, deny the right of the Jewish people on the Temple Mount and claim that the entire area, including the Western Wall, is a sacred Islamic site belonging exclusively to the Islamic nation.
In a recent interview with the Saudi website Elaph, MK Mansour Abbas, who heads the political branch of the Islamic Movement, said that "the Al-Aqsa Mosque is a pure Islamic right" and that in any future agreement, eastern Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque should be part of the Palestinian state.