VIDEO: Muslim worshipers attack Jews trying to pray on Temple Mount
Video footage from Arab television emerged on Tuesday showing Muslim worshipers on the Temple Mount attack a small group of Jews who ascended to the holy site and attempted to pray.
Israeli authorities on Tuesday evicted eight Jewish visitors from the Temple Mount complex in response to what security forces said was inappropriate behavior at the holy site.
Police said 527 visitors, of them 400 tourists, ascended to the holy site during Tuesday morning visits.
After the last group of Jewish visitors left the compound, a gathering of Muslim worshipers began yelling slogans at the Jews.
Police and Border Police officers in the area escorted the group of Jews away from the scene and acted to subdue the disturbances.
As Israeli Jews celebrate Passover, the security services are on high alert as part of an effort to head off any attempts by religious Jews to make overt gestures on Temple Mount that might be construed as worship.
Jews are not permitted to pray at the site, as doing so would offend Islamic religious sensibilities. This arrangement was agreed upon by the Israeli authorities and the Wakf – the Islamic trust that oversees the day-to-day operations of the Muslim shrines atop Temple Mount – following Israel’s conquest of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War.