Israeli legislators visit the Temple Mount after the ban

Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel and party member Likud Sharren Haskel visited the hill enclosure, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary or Haram Al -Sharif.

Temple Mount (Photo: Reuters)

The site is considered the most sacred site for Jews, the site of the two biblical temples, and Today it houses the Al Aqsa Mosque, the third most sacred site of Islam. It is the emotional epicenter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Netanyahu banned Israeli lawmakers visiting the site in November 2015 from reducing tensions with Palestinians.

Netanyahu's office had no comment on legislators' visits.

The site, jointly operated by Israel and Jordan, was at the origin of many violent incidents between Israel and the Palestinians.

Palestinians launched the second intifada in September 2000 after former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon provoked outrage by visiting the Temple Mount.

Dozens of suicide bombings were perpetrated by Palestinians against Israeli civilians in hotels, restaurants, bars and buses in the wave of violence that followed and continued until 2005.

MK Yehuda Glick (MK Yehuda Glick at Temple Mount)

More recently, in 2014, Likud deputy Yehuda Glick survived badbadination attempt
when he was left in critical condition after being shot dead outside a conference that called for the right of Jews to visit the Temple Mount in the heart of Jerusalem.