J-Wire by Aryeh Savir
A group of Jewish worshipers entreated the Temple Mount on Sunday through the Gate of the Tribes in the northern part of the Mount for the first time since 1967, when liberating IDF paratroopers entered the holy site during the Six Day War.
The group entered through the Gate of the Tribes and was escorted by a Temple Mount police officer, and some left the Temple Mount through the same gate.
Tom Nisani, CEO of Beyadenu for the Temple Mount, said that the “Jewish entry through the Gate of the Tribes shows that there is no justification for the threats and claims that if we exercise our sovereignty and basic freedoms on the Mount, terrible things will happen.”
“This morning, Jews entered through the Gate of the Tribes smoothly and without any problems. This precedent should be first implemented on special occasions when many Jews ascend the Mount through the Hallel [Mugrabim] Gate, which cannot facilitate all of them. It is a positive development,” he said.
Jews are usually allowed to enter the Temple Mount only through the Mugrabim (Moroccan) Gate, which is right next to the Kotel, Western Wall. The rest of the nine gates around the Temple Mount are reserved for Muslims.
The Gate of the Tribes, Bab al-Asbat in Arabic, which is the name for the 12 tribes of Israel, is located in the northeast corner of the Temple Mount. The gate is located near the Lions’ Gate, which was also formerly called the Gate of the Tribes. The gate is nearby the “Pool of Israel” and the “Tower of the Children of Israel,” both names preserved by the Muslims.
