Should Jews have the right to visit the Temple Mount? 

And, perhaps even pray there if they desire?

 You would think the answer to that question would be simple: YES! 

 After all, Jerusalem has been the geographic heart and soul of Judaism for roughly 3,000 years -- since the time King David made it his capital city. And, no other spot on earth holds more meaning or sacred significance to the Jewish people than the Temple Mount, at the base of which the Western Wall (the Wailing Wall) of the old Temple courtyard still stands.

The Temple Mount is where Abraham prepared to offer his son Isaac in obedience until (foreshadowing the eventual coming of Messiah) God stopped him and provided a substitute sacrifice.

One thousand years later, King David purchased the threshing floor of Araunah on this spot (see 2 Samuel 24:24) and designated it to be the site for the Temple that would become a permanent habitation for the presence of God among the Jewish People.

 It is the site of the Second Temple that stood in Yeshua's (Jesus') day, where the promised Messiah walked, taught, and worshipped.

Only the overwhelming force of invading armies have every been able to drive the Jews from that rock, sacred hill -- and then, only temporarily. The Babylonians, the Romans, the Crusaders, and finally the Muslim armies have all tried. But each time, the Jewish People have been drawn back to their historic, God-granted place of origin.

In other words, for 4,000 years, Jerusalem in general and the Temple Mount in particular have served as the geographic focal point for the Jewish People.

And yet, since 1948, it has been illegal for Israel's Jewish citizens or pilgrims to pray on that site, lest delicate Muslim sensibilities be inflamed. In fact, Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount have been forbidden to even move their lips, lest they quietly speak to God on the holiest ground known to Judaism.

Currently, there is a growing passion and yearning among the people of Israel to gather and pray on God's holy mountain.

God is stirring that yearning to pray. Some believe this may even be a part of His plan to soften Jewish hearts and open Jewish eyes to the truth that Yeshua is the promised Mashiach (Messiah)!

Ezekiel may have foreseen this movement when he prophetically wrote:

Of course, this subject is a major hot-button for the Muslim Arabs of Jerusalem and beyond. In fact, recently, one of Israel's most visible activist leaders of the Jewish Temple Mount prayer movement, Yehudah Glick, was nearly assassinated by a Palestinian Muslim. He survived the attempt, but it serves as a chilling reminder of how ugly things might get over the next weeks and months.

After the assassination attempt, the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court reaffirmed that it is legal for Jews (and, therefore, Christians) to pray atop the Temple Mount, despite violent Muslim opposition.

That legal clarification came as part of a decision in the case by activist Yehudah Glick, who sued the Israel Police for banning him from the Temple Mount for a period of two years after he was filmed quietly uttering prayers while visiting the holy site in 2011.

Glick, who survived this recent attack by a Muslim terrorist, charged the police with failing to uphold Israel's laws regarding freedom of religious expression.

Israel's Supreme Court had previously ruled that Jews do in fact have the right to pray in any and every place, as do adherents of all faiths, but that police could take measures to avoid violent Muslim backlashes atop the Temple Mount.

The Jerusalem court determined that the police had gone too far in its handling of Glick and other activists, and had crossed the line by impinging on Jews' basic human rights.

Glick was awarded nearly USD $150,000 in damages. His lawyer further told The Jerusalem Post that the ruling meant that "starting from today, all Jews are allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. There is no longer any crime in prayer itself."

Still, many remained skeptical that non-Muslims would now be permitted to openly pray and worship atop the Temple Mount.  (article source Israel Today)