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Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel became Sunday the first Israeli legislator to visit the Temple Mount since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu eased restrictions on such visits.
[Netanyahou] reportedly told the Knesset Yuli Edelstein last week that lawmakers can regularly visit the Temple Mount, provided they do not do it more than once every three months and that they are not allowed to visit the Temple Mount. they coordinate their visits with the police in advance. Legislators are prohibited from addressing the public during their visits and can not be accompanied by the media.
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Jewish lawmakers will be allowed to visit during scheduled visiting hours for Jews between 7:30 am and 11:00 am. on weekdays, and will also be allowed to accompany Jewish groups on their normal routes. Arab lawmakers will be allowed to visit the Temple Mount 30 minutes after Jewish visits, with no restrictions on overtime.
"Due to the desire to leave the Temple Mount outside the political realm, speeches will not be permitted during visits or media interviews during the visit, including at the doors of the Temple. Entry, nor entry nor participation in meetings at the offices of the Waqf Temple [be allowed]"writes an officer of the Knesset.Legislators are also prohibited from accompanying VIP visitors on the Temple Mount, Israel and abroad.
For the past three years, Netanyahu has significantly restricted MK's access to the complex, under an agreement reached between Israel and Jordan via US mediation. The agreement was reached following a wave of Palestinian attacks in Jerusalem in 2014 and 2015, which was spurred by claims that Israel was planning to change the status quo at the site.
The restrictions have greatly reduced legislators' visits to the Temple Mount. In the last two years, MP Yehudah Glick (Likud) has visited three times and MP Shuli Moalem-Refaeli (Habayit Hayehudi) once. All these visits pbaded quietly.
Netanyahu met in Amman with King Abdullah of Jordan earlier this month, but it is unclear whether they discussed the issue of visiting MPs.
The past year has also seen an increase in the number of Jewish visitors on Mount. According to the Yeraeh organization, which promotes such visits, more than 22,000 Jews have visited the Temple Mount since the Rosh Hashanah holidays last September, the highest number since Israel took control of the site in 1967.
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