Sephardic Chief Rabbi Forbids Israelis From Going to Temple Mount

Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef. Image by Wikimedia Commons

By JTA November 7, 2014

An Israeli chief rabbi urged Jews to stay away from the Temple Mount to prevent bloodshed.

Yitzhak Yosef, Israel’s chief Sehardic rabbi, made the call during the funeral Friday of Shalom Ba’adani, 17 who died that morning in hospital from wounds he sustained on Wednesday when a Palestinian terrorist hit him and 12 others with his car.

Ba’adani was the second fatality from that attack, which also claimed the life of an Israel Border Guard soldier. The terrorist, Ibrahim abu-Achari, was shot dead by other Border Guard officers.

“This is the place to call on the esteemed public to stop this incitement, from here a call is heard, forbidding any Jews from going up to the Temple Mount – From here a call is heard to stop this so that the blood of the People of Israel may stop being spilled,” said Yosef.

Israeli authorities limit Jewish worship on the mount, the holiest site in Judaism. Also called Haram al-Sharif, the site is considered the third holiest in Islam. In recent weeks, Jerusalem has seen an increase in violence by Palestinians, prompting police to double its presence in the Old City of Jerusalem to 3,000 officers.

Ba’adani was the grandson of Shimon Ba’adani, a senior member of the Shas movement of Sephardic Orthodox Jews.

The Palestinian driver who killed him plowed into a light rail stop in Jerusalem, killing an Israel Border Police officer on the spot.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO