Police Chief Yohanan Danino said today, in a speech he gave at the annual Sderot conference that he had urged the government and the Attorney General not to allow right wing politicians to visit the Temple Mount. He said his advice had been rejected.

Danino said the police had no interest in limiting visits by Jews in general on the Mount, and work tirelessly to ensure the safety of Jews visiting the Temple Mount. He objected only to visits by extremist politicians pursuing an agenda calling for changing long-existing Temple Mount status quo, complicating an already difficult and sensitive situation.

Although Prime Minister Netanyahu request MKs refrain from ascending the Temple Mount, he did not take any concrete action to prevent such visits. Some right-wing MKs, such as Zipi Hotobeli, Moshe Feiglin and Shuli Mualem had visited the site recently. MK Moshe Feiglin harshly responded via his Facebook account by saying Danino’s true motive “was to find a scapegoat in order to make an excuse.”

Accompanied by former Police Chiefs at the conference, Danino referred to last week’s murderous attack at the Har Nof Synagogue, saying police had aked the Attorney General for permission to arrest family members of the terrorists on charges of incitement to violence”.

The Temple Organizations headquarters condemned Danino by saying “our police chief must ensure the safety of all citizens anywhere in Israel, including the Temple Mount”. They demanded Netanyahu appoint a new Police Chief.

Regarding the fresh wave of Jews ascending the sacred site, the Chief Rabbi of Israel Isaak Yosef called two weeks ago to avoid visiting temple mount. He implied the ones who dare do so at these days are responsible for reigniting the violence across the city.

By Shay Belal/www.jerusalemonline.com