Yair Lapid
Yair LapidFlash 90

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday shared some truths about the Temple Mount in a bid to stop the dissemination of false information about the tensions at the complex.

“5 facts about the Temple Mount - instead of the disinformation being spread online,” Lapid wrote in a series of tweets.

“1. Israel is preserving and will continue to preserve the status quo on the Temple Mount. We have no intention of changing it whatsoever.”

“2. In the first 2 weeks of Ramadan, hundreds of thousands of Muslims have prayed at Al-Aqsa. The only people who've disturbed them are extremists & Hamas supporters who took control of the Mosque, desecrated it, disrupted prayer, & lobbed firebombs, fireworks & rocks from within.”

“3. The Israel Police acted only to prevent such violence and allow prayer to continue as normal. The moment they put a stop to the violence, the police left the site and enabled thousands of believers to enter the Temple Mount & pray in peace. This is Israel’s policy, there is no other.”

“4. Videos posted online with false context are part of a campaign of disinformation by extremists whose objective is to incite a violent confrontation. Israel has no interest in a confrontation, and in fact, has enacted tangible policies to reduce tensions during Ramadan.”

“5. Continued violence only serves the interests of extremists on both sides. Just yesterday, Israel stopped Jewish extremists who tried to inflame tensions in Jerusalem. Muslim moderates need to do the same thing when it comes to Islamic extremists.”

Earlier on Thursday, Lapid met with a State Department delegation visiting Israel. The two sides discussed the recent Arab riots on the Temple Mount, and Israeli efforts to quell the surge in violence during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

“The State of Israel is dealing with extremist Islamist terror whose entire goal is to sow violence, fear, and chaos,” Lapid said after the meeting. “We call on all leaders in the region to act and speak responsibly in order to calm the situation. Israel is preserving and will continue to preserve the status quo on the Temple Mount and we have no intention of changing it whatsoever.”

The clashes on the Temple Mount resumed on Thursday morning, with Arabs reporting that Israeli security forces entered the site and closed the worshipers in one of the mosques.

Footage from the scene showed that the forces used riot dispersal methods after the rioters attacked them with rocks and fireworks and tried to harm the police officers from within the mosque.

(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of the Seventh Day of Passover in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)