Israel's Chief Rabbinate looks into biblical justification for Jews to pray on Jerusalem's Temple Mount

And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. Zechariah 12:3

As reported by David Sidman of Breaking Israel News, September 5, 2019 (links in original):

During their annual meeting the The Temple Headquarters organization noted that the police said that they are able to enforce and protect Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount reports Rotter. More and more senior officials, including the prime minister, are willing to consider Jewish prayer on the holy site as well as extended Jewish visiting hours and also opening it on Shabbat.

This has compelled Israel’s Chief Rabbinate to begin expediting Halachik (Jewish law) studies on the matter of Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount.

The Chief rabbinate is the state’s religious authority. It has both legal and administrative authority over religious matters in Israel.

This phenomenon lies in stark contrast with the fact that when entering the Temple Mount, there is a prominent sign posted by the same Chief Rabbinate of Israel that warns: “According to Torah Law, entering the Temple Mount area is strictly forbidden due to the holiness of the site.”

But due to the massive amount of Jewish Pilgrims who have ignored their warnings, the Rabbinate appears to now be reconsidering their position.

In an interview with Breaking Israel News, Joshua Wander, an independent public relations consultant in and around the Old City of Jerusalem explained that the sign is out of date. That’s because following 1967 when Israel reunited Jerusalem and received access to the Temple Mount, Jews began flocking there, unaware of the conditions upon which one is allowed to go up according to Jewish law.

Today, because of vast archaeological and historical research, there is more understanding about where one may go or must avoid according Jewish purity laws.

Breaking Israel News also reported that Prime Minister Netanyahu made assurances that Jewish prayer would be allowed on the Temple Mount before the Messiah arrives.

As reported by Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz of Breaking Israel News, August 30, 2019 (links in original):

In the course of an interview last week in Ukraine, Ze’ev Kam, a reporter for Kan News, asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the “elementary rights of the Jews to pray at the Temple Mount, their holiest site.” Netanyahu’s answer, which was published in “Sheva”, was, “Don’t worry, it will happen, and before the arrival of the Messiah.”

On the website for Temple Mount advocacy, Har-Habait, they noted that Netanyahu had already made this promise. Yehuda Etzion, founder of the Chai V’Kayam temple mount advocacy group, sent a letter to then-Likud candidate Netanyahu asking about his views on Jewish rights at the site.

“The right of the Jewish people to their holy place, the Temple Mount, is unquestionable,” Netanyahu wrote, “I believe that the right of prayer for Jews in this place should be arranged, and even more so that we should provide for the freedom of worship for all religions in Jerusalem.”

“It is clear that we should do this with the proper sensitivity,” Netanyahu wrote. “I believe we can do this properly after we return to the leadership of the state.”

As per Israeli law which legislates freedom and equality of religion, Jewish prayer is legally mandated but the Israeli police, tasked with maintaining order, are permitted to use their judgment in how to implement this law. As Minister of Internal Security, Gilad Erdan is tasked with overseeing this task. He was put to the test two weeks ago when the Jewish holy day of Tisha B’Av coincided with the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. The Muslim religious authorities closed all of the mosques in Jerusalem except for the silver-domed Al Aqsa on the Temple Mount, calling for the Palestinians to prevent the Jews from visiting the site. The police delayed Jewish entrance to the site until after the Muslim times of prayer but the Palestinians stayed at the site en masse and rioted. Rather than back down and bar the Jews from entering, the Israeli police valiantly protected the Jews and the Jewish right to visit the site. Thanks to their efforts, a record 1,729 Jews commemorated the destruction of the Jewish Temples precisely where they once stood.

In response to the Arab threat of violence, Erdan responded by asserting that religious freedom is necessary on the Temple Mount.

“I think there is in an injustice in the status quo that has existed since ’67,” he told Israel’s Radio 90. According to an agreement between Jordan and Israel in the wake of the Six-Day War, the status quo mandate established by the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century governing the holy sites in Jerusalem would remain in place. This restricted non-Muslims prayer at Muslim sites.

“We need to work to change it so in the future Jews, with the help of God, can pray at the Temple Mount,” Erdan said. “This needs to be achieved by diplomatic agreements and not by force.”

It is important to note that when Israel conquered the Temple Mount in 1967, there was one mosque. There are currently five locations on the Temple Mount that the Waqf designates as mosques and off-limits to non-Muslims.

The Jews are certainly reawakening to the Temple Mount. In 2009, 5,658 Jews ascended to the Temple Mount and had doubled by 2015. Just two years later, a total of 25,000 Jews visited the site.

“We completely condemn Israel’s violations of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi wrote on Twitter. “The occupation [Israeli] authorities’ absurd actions and attempts to change the status quo in occupied Jerusalem will only lead to the conflict being exacerbated and the situation blowing up, threatening international peace and security. We call on the international community to assume its responsibilities and pressure Israel to stop its violations.”

It should be noted that no Jews approached the Al-Aqsa Mosque but Arab rhetoric has changed the term in recent years to include all of the Temple Mount.