Jewish visitor on the Temple Mount
Jewish visitor on the Temple MountSliman Khader/Flash 90

Attorney Yisrael Caspi, Head of the Temple Antiquities Preservation Committee, was interviewed by Arutz Sheva about the attack against two archaeologists yesterday on the Temple Mount by members of the Jordanian Waqf, and the changes affecting the so-called 'status quo.'

"It was a brutal physical attack, with deep bruises. They punched the archaeologists with their fists. 12 Waqf members surrounded them and tried to remove them from the Temple Mount. The archaeologists succeeded in alerting police, who arrived at the scene and stopped some of the attackers."

Caspi was critical of the Prime Minister's policies regarding the Temple Mount. "The Prime Minister prefers to buy quiet at any price, he allows the Muslim Waqf to do whatever it wishes [there]."

According to Caspi, the Israeli government needs to enforce order on the Temple Mount. "We demand that the Prime Minister work to protect the rights of Jews, and enable them - even those Jews with an externally religious appearance - to move freely on the Temple Mount without Waqf members constantly accompanying them and checking if they are mumbling something.

"The physical violence has got to stop."

Caspi warned that the 'status quo' is rapidly disappearing: "Three years ago, religious Jews could come to the Temple Mount without an escort, suddenly there are all these limitations - only three Jews at a time, only allowed to enter at certain hours. Muslims are allowed to do anything, but we are forbidden."