Jews on Temple Mount
Jews on Temple MountArnon Segel

A 24-year-old Jewish male about to be married Sunday night was arrested earlier this morning on suspicion of praying while on a visit to the Temple Mount. 

The groom ascended to the Mount in honor of his wedding day - an ancient Jewish traditiondating back to the First Temple period, nearly 3,000 years ago. 

He was later arrested near the Temple Mount's exit, after a policeman, who had accompanied the man's group of Jewish visitors to the site, claimed the future groom said a prayer.

Jewish prayer has been forbidden at Judaism's holiest site by the Jordanian Waqf which maintains de facto control of the Mount.

Honenu attorney Rehavia Piltz was summoned to the Merhav David police station in Jerusalem in order to to ensure the quick release of the groom, so he could continue preparations for his upcoming nuptials. 

"Arresting a Jewish groom on his wedding day, on suspicion of praying at the Jewish people's holiest site, is a grave misstep which belies the loss of a moral compass and a loss of the values for which we returned to Israel after 2,000 years of exile," Honenu asserted. 

"When you look at the relationship between the police and Arab rioters and the [police's] helplessness in front of them, this [misstep] is sharpened even more."