For a selection of cases in which Honenu Attorneys represented Jews detained on or near the Temple Mount please see here.
Thursday, May 18, 2023, 12:44 On the morning of Thursday, May 18, Honenu Attorney Nati Rom was detained by police as he exited the Temple Mount, after he remonstrated with a police officer who threatened a minor with violence during a tour on the Mount. Attorney Rom was taken to the nearby police station and held in custody for over an hour.
Honenu leveled sharp criticism at the police for the detention: “Temple Mount police officers crossed a new red line of unrestrained misconduct by detaining one of our attorneys without reasonable cause this morning. According to the officers, Attorney Rom acted illegally when he objected to an officer who violently threatened a youth who had not committed any crime. We are examining how such officers should be handled.”
Honenu Attorney Nati Rom commented on his detention: “I am pleased to see so many visitors in Jerusalem and ascending the Temple Mount. However, it is sad to see that in the State of Israel, in 2023, non-Jewish tourists are allowed to pass Jews waiting in line and freely enter the Temple Mount while Jews are not granted the same freedom as members of all other faiths. Unfortunately, Jews are not treated equally with regard to basic human rights. This is an intolerable situation.”
The police released Attorney Rom from the police station in the early afternoon. After his release, Attorney Rom stated, “Today, I ascended the Temple Mount with my daughter in honor of her bat mitzvah celebration. Suddenly, I noticed a police officer shouting at a 13-year-old youth who had strayed from his group. The officer threatened to kick him in the head. I told the officer to stop threatening the youth and in response, he detained me at the exit from the Temple Mount. I was released without being interrogated. We very much hope that incidents such as this are not repeated.”