L-R: MK's Halevi, Kallner, Rabbi Elbaum, MK Illouz, fmr. MK Moalem
L-R: MK's Halevi, Kallner, Rabbi Elbaum, MK Illouz, fmr. MK MoalemTemple Mount Authority

MKs Dan Illouz, Ariel Kallner, Amit Halevi from the Likud, and former MK Shuli Moalem visited the Temple Mount on Thursday in honor of Jerusalem Day.

In response, fellow Likud MK David Bitan attacked them in an interview with Glalei Tzahal radio. "I see as inappropriate the fact that several Likud MKs visited the Temple Mount today," he stated. That's not what needs to be done. People have become extremists."

MK Illouz responded to his fellow party member: "The Temple Mount is the holiest site for the Jewish people. This is not my first time here, and I'm always moved to visit the Mount. We can not accept the claim that Jewish presence in a certain place, especially not the holiest place to the nation of Israel, is an extreme act."

He added: "As someone who immigrated to Israel from overseas, to the Jewish state, out of Zionism, I can not accept the claim that the very presence of Jews in a certain place is a provocation. It is unacceptable. I intend to ask G-d at this holy place to work for Jewish unity and the prosperity of the state of Israel."

MK Amit Halevy also responded to MK Bitan. "I'm sure that David Biton, who I know for quite a few years, would also be moved if he would visit the Mount. This mountain needs to return to being the center of Israeli society."

Minister for the Development of the Periphery, the Negev, and the Galilee Yitzhak Wasserlauf also visited the Temple Mount Thursday, as he toured the holy site, he commented, "I missed it here."