Gilad Erdan
Gilad ErdanYonatan Sindel/Flash 90

Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) on Friday wrote a column in the British The Guardian, explaining why the current wave of Arab terrorism "is based on a lie."

The minister began by noting the brutal terror attack in Jerusalem's northeastern Pisgat Ze'ev on Monday, in which two Arab terrorists aged 13 and 15 stabbed and seriously wounded two Jews, one of them a boy aged only 13 who had just exited a shop where he bought candy.

"More than 100 Israelis have been injured in the past two weeks; some have died from their wounds, murdered by terrorists as they were walking down a street or riding a bus," wrote Erdan. "Some speak of 'lone wolf' attacks when describing this wave of terror. But these attacks are being fueled by violent incitement on social media, on official Palestinian radio and in sermons delivered in Gaza’s mosques."

"Amid all this incitement, the most inflammatory charge is the claim that Israel has some kind of plan to change the arrangements governing access to the area within the Old City of Jerusalem, revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif," the minister added, referencing the holiest site in Judaism.

Erdan emphasized that these claims of a change are "a lie – and an irresponsible lie at that. I can state in no uncertain terms and on behalf of the government of Israel that my country is not seeking to change the status quo regarding the Temple Mount. We are the first in the long history of those who have governed Jerusalem to ensure that freedom of worship for all religions – Muslims, Jews and Christians – is continually and scrupulously maintained in the city. And that will continue."

The current status quo at the Mount sees it remain under the de facto control of the Jordanian Waqf, which continues to ban Jewish prayer despite Israeli law stipulating freedom of worship.

"This big lie, also spread by Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, is the engine in this murderous campaign against Israelis. If Palestinian leaders truly wanted calm, they would tell their people the truth: that there is and will be no change to the status of the holy sites in Jerusalem."

"Prime Minister (Binyamin) Netanyahu has repeatedly called on Abbas over recent weeks to return to the negotiating table, with no preconditions. Abbas has responded by 'saluting every drop of blood shed for Jerusalem,'" he said, referencing a speech last month in which Abbas called for violence to stop Jewish "filth" from visiting the Mount.

Also getting on board the "lie" was US State Department spokesperson John Kirby, who had to issue a semi-retraction after falsely blaming the terrorism on Israel for changing the "status quo" on the Temple Mount on Wednesday

"Israel is here to stay. The sooner the Palestinians realize this and return to the negotiating table, the sooner we can begin to build a different future – for the sake of all our children."