“The police showed contempt for the Supreme Court.”

Wednesday, January 25, 2017, 9:58 Despite a recent Supreme Court ruling explicitly stating that the demand by the police that Jews sign a “letter of undertaking” as a condition for ascending the Temple Mount is contrary to police regulations and in violation of the law, on the morning of Wednesday, January 25, the police prevented a bridegroom and several of his friends from ascending the Temple Mount.
The group arrived at the entrance to the Temple Mount on the morning of the wedding day. There, a policeman informed them that they are prohibited from ascending the Temple Mount, and that they must coordinate a meeting with the Commander of the Holy Sites Department, at which they will receive an explanation for the prohibition.
Honenu Attorney Menasheh Yado, who recently represented Jewish petitioners at deliberations before the Supreme Court on the matter of ascending the Temple Mount, sent an urgent letter to the Merchav David (Old City) District Police Commander in which he wrote that the manner in which the police prohibited the group’s ascent is contrary to the new regulations which the police themselves formulated and presented to the Supreme Court. The new regulations state that even in extreme cases a distancing order will not be served until after a hearing has taken place, which did not happen in this instance.
“Depriving them of their right to ascend the Temple Mount will constitute intentional illegal usage of the power of their position. The matter has already been examined by the Supreme Court, which decisively stated its opinion,” wrote Yado to the District Commander.
It should be noted that recently the Jerusalem Magistrate Court ruled that a Temple Mount activist will receive monetary compensation because of an incident in which he arrived at the Temple Mount and only there did he discover that he was forbidden to ascend. The court ruled that the police must inform the recipient in advance of a decision prohibiting ascent of the Temple Mount, which was not done in this instance.
Honenu Attorney Menasheh Yado: “For two solid years the police have shown contempt for regulations and the law and acted illegally. Despite the fact that the Supreme Court accepted our opinion and ruled that the State acted illegally and obligated the State with the expenses of the petition, we saw this morning that the police continue to act illegally and this time showed contempt not only towards Jews ascending the Temple Mount, but also towards Supreme Court Justices.”
See Temple Mount distancing regulations revealed for more information on the topic.