Rabbis to hold Temple Mount hearing
JERUSALEM (Nando, August 4, 2000 3:38 p.m. EDT ) - Israel's top rabbis will for the first time give a formal hearing to a potentially explosive proposal to construct a synagogue on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, next to Islamic holy sites, a council official said Friday.
An attempt to build a synagogue on the Temple Mount, known to Muslims as Haram as-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, would likely spark violence between Israelis and Palestinians and anger the Islamic world. In 1996, 80 people died in rioting after Israel opened a tunnel alongside the compound.
However, the plan has little chance because of religious constraints in Judaism, rabbinical officials said.
The Temple Mount, a raised, walled platform, sits on the fault line of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The issue of control over Jerusalem and its holy sites scuttled a Mideast peace summit last month between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
The Al Aqsa Mosque in the sacred compound is the third holiest site of Islam. One side of the complex is lined by the Western Wall, a remnant of the Jewish Temple destroyed in 70 A.D. and Judaism's holiest shrine.
At its monthly meeting Monday, the Chief Rabbinical Council will discuss the synagogue proposal, made by the chief rabbi of Haifa.
But Shaika Rosenfeld, spokesman for Israel's chief rabbi, Israel Meir Lau, said the council was unlikely to approve the proposal.
Last month, the council reaffirmed a long-standing religious ban against Jews setting foot on the Temple Mount at all, Rosenfeld said.
There are strict biblical regulations on entering the Temple area, including purification ceremonies that cannot be carried out today. Most rabbinical authorities forbid Jews to enter, though some rabbis disagree.
Successive Israeli governments have kept Jews from praying on the Temple Mount to avoid provoking Muslims.
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