By ISRAEL HAYOM
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered police to prevent Likud-Beytenu MK Moshe Feiglin from entering Temple Mount after the prime minister received intelligence saying that Feiglin’s ascent would compromise security at the site, officials close to the prime minister told Army Radio on Monday.
Feiglin on Sunday posted to his Facebook page that Netanyahu had personally ordered police not to allow the Likud MK to enter the compound.
The Likud MK derided the prime minister’s apparent decision to bar his entry, saying “the prime minister has no legal authority with which to give such an order.” Feiglin added that the decision “undermines Knesset sovereignty.” He dismissed the prime minister’s security concerns, saying the authorities had “ample time to organize and prevent” disturbances, according to Army Radio.
Feiglin has ruffled feathers before by entering the Temple Mount, an area in Jerusalem’s Old City holy to both Muslims and Jews which is overseen by the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf with Israeli police in charge of security. Feiglin has gone to Temple Mount both to pray and to visit.
Feiglin was refused entry to the Dome of the Rock in March, after worshippers told him that non-Muslims are not allowed to enter Temple Mount.
