Bezalel Smotrich
Bezalel SmotrichYonatan Sindel/Flash 90

MK Bezalel Smotrich (Jewish Home) explained on Monday why he does not intend to take advantage of the police pilot program and go up to the Temple Mount on Tuesday morning.

The police will use the one-day visit to test whether the blanket ban on MKs visiting the holy site can be safely removed. The ban was initially planned to be lifted for a week, but the test period was shortened to one day at the demand of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

"I am not prepared to go to the Temple Mount like a thief in the night, in this humiliating and illegal way that was imposed on the members of Knesset," said Smotrich. "The Temple Mount is the holiest place for the Jewish people and the State of Israel must exercise its sovereignty over it.”

He continued, "The terms and conditions imposed on Knesset members as they are reflected in the humiliating letter of the Knesset officer are illegal, undemocratic and unacceptable."

"This hallucinatory pilot program is a new low that is not acceptable. I will ascend the Temple Mount when ministers and members of the Knesset will be able to move freely and upright and realize the sovereignty of the State of Israel on the Temple Mount. I call on the Prime MSinister to allow this immediately," Smotrich concluded.

Last week, MKs Yehuda Glick (Likud) and Shuli Moalem-Refaeli (Jewish Home) requested to be allowed to ascend the Temple Mount, but their request was denied.

Both MKs, who serve on the lobby for strengthening the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount, are the only Knesset Members who informed the Knesset officer that they intend to ascend the Temple Mount on Tuesday.

MK Moalem-Refaeli said Monday, "I am personally happy about the possibility afforded me to go up to the Temple Mount. Still, it is outrageous that the ascent to the holiest place for Jews is done in such a manner, especially since the Arab leadership is responsible for incitement [to violence]. I expect the Prime Minister to accept the position of the security forces, to lift the restrictions and allow Knesset members to ascend the Temple Mount as in the past."