Last Wednesday’s ruling is ‘a danger to public peace and could cause an outbreak,’ said the official, who announced that the police will appeal the sentence, as per the digital version of The Jerusalem Post newspaper.

While several Israeli courts have ruled in the past that Jews can pray there, law enforcement agencies avoid complying with those rulings to avoid the wrath of the Palestinians and the Muslim world in general, which considers the Al-Aqsa Mosque, within the compound, to be their third holiest place.

The State of Israel advocates freedom of worship and prayer for all, however, in view of the security implications, the status quo must be maintained, Bar Lev stressed.

The various Palestinian forces called for a general mobilization in defense of the place, venerated both by Muslims, who call it the Esplanade of the Mosques, and by Jews, who call it the Temple Mount.

‘With our blood and soul we will defend you Al-Aqsa’, chanted hundreds of Palestinians at the end of the prayer this Friday, surrounded by a strong Israeli security detachment.

The tension coincides with the 31st anniversary of the massacre by the Israeli police of 21 Palestinians in the compound.

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