Israel’s Supreme Court has approved two petitions granting Jewish groups the right to march around the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem and to enter the Temple Mount on the Tisha B’Av fast day, which falls on Sunday.
This represents the first time that the court has allowed the militant Faithful of the Temple Mount access to the site on the anniversary of the Temple’s destruction.
The court also allowed a right-wing group, Women in Green, to march around the walls of the Old City en route to prayers at the Western Wall on Saturday night, when the fast begins.
The same access will apply to all Jews seeking entry to the Mount which, in addition to being the site of the First and Second Temples, is also the site of two of Islam’s most sacred shrines, the Omar and Aksa mosques.
Police will limit the number of Jews allowed entry to the Temple Mount. Those entering will be forbidden to pray there or recite the kinnot — the special dirges recited on Tisha B’Av lamenting the destruction of the First and Second Temples.
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