Outrage from Jews led to a police investigation into an incident in which a car, bearing a Muslim bride, drove onto the Temple Mount.

It has since been revealed that the event was conducted with the approval and coordination of the Israeli police.

Muslim wedding car drives on Temple Mount, next to AlAqsa Mosque, Jerusalem @israelpolice מה נהיה?????https://t.co/o8VqvPJ6MB pic.twitter.com/03EFkjG4Kf

— Imshin ايمشين אימשין (@imshin) December 9, 2021

It should be noted that the incident contravenes a High Court ruling that prohibits the playing of games and sports. The ban also prohibits using the holy site for secular or political demonstrations.

The video was posted on Twitter on December 9:

The incident was protested by Btzalmo, a human rights organization, who contacted Omer Bar-Lev,  the Minister of Public Security. 

“While Jews are prevented from entering the mountain most of the day, Arabs can enter with wedding vehicles, play football and incite against Jews,” Shai Glick,  Btzalmo’s CEO, said. “We demand freedom of visitation and worship on the Temple Mount for Jews and Arabs alike. The Temple Mount is a holy place for everyone and it is not possible for Jews to be expelled from it most of the day. Freedom of worship and freedom of movement are fundamental rights of the citizens of Israel. “

Bar-Lev’s office responded that the incident came after one of the Arab families that live on the Temple Mount submitted a special request to the police for a vehicle to enter in order to transport the bride and her mother to the wedding. They claimed that the only vehicular access to their home was via the Temple Mount compound. Bar-Lev’s office noted that it is not unusual to request permission for a vehicle to enter the site for secular purposes. The response noted that vehicles enter the Temple Mount via gates that are manned by police and undergo inspections. 

Assaf Fried, the spokesman for the Temple Organization, stated that the action was an affront to Judaism’s holiest site.

“The government has accepted that the Temple Mount is an exclusively Muslim site,” Fried said. “Just like the UN agenda is trying to assert. On one hand, it seems insignificant that a car drives through the compound. But it throws the inequality in our faces. If the Jews were permitted even the most basic rights on the Temple Mount, it would not seem so bad.”

“More problematic are the funerals that are held on the Temple Mount several times every week,” Fried said. “Dead bodies bear ritual impurity. Purity was an essential concern in the Temple. The Muslims do not show even the most minimal amount of respect to the Temple Mount. It is certainly not how they act at the sites they do hold as holy, like Mecca and Medina. They destroying our holy sites, with the police agreeing to allow actions which violate Israeli law.”

Yaakov Hayman, the chairman of the Temple Movement, noted that the Israeli government has never enforced sovereignty or even the rule of law on the Temple Mount. 

“The Muslims do whatever they want on the Temple Mount,” Hayman said. “Of course, the law states that the site is holy and should be treated as such. But the Arabs use it as a political site. The Friday prayers become rallies for Hamas with posters and flags being openly displayed. The police only go in when there is violence.”

“The only changes that have happened were a result of the Jewish people who are going up in growing numbers, Hayman said. “Omar Bar-Lev is a complete disaster and Prime Minister Bennett is at the mercy of his coalition which is run by anti-religious and Arab parties. We cannot expect the Muslims or the Waqf to act differently. Look around the region. Arabs do not believe in pluralism or equality. Israel says they stand for that but when faced with Arabs rejecting pluralism, the Israeli government capitulates. So the Arabs do here what they do everywhere; enforce Arab-Muslim dominance.”

“We need to be faithful to our mission regarding sovereignty and the Jewish people,” Hayman concluded.