Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said he was not concerned over what some are calling a "crisis" in Israel-US relations, after the White House slammed Israeli building plans in Jerusalem. "Construction in Jerusalem does not 'harm' or 'poison' anything. Construction in Jerusalem is important and it will continue," Barkat said.

On Wednesday, the US State Department used unusually harsh language when criticizing Israel's approval of planned construction of 2,610 homes in Jerusalem. "This development will only draw condemnation from the international community, distance Israel from even its closest allies, poison the atmosphere not only with the Palestinians but also with the very Arab governments with which Prime Minister (Binyamin) Netanyahu said he wanted to build relations," Psaki was quoted as having told a briefing. In addition, it would "call into question Israel's ultimate commitment to a peaceful negotiated settlement," she added.

 Barkat said that Psaki was entitled to her opinion, but that Israel respectfully disagreed. "Racism and discrimination on the basis of race or religion is illegal in Israel, as it is in the US," he said. "I will not allow that kind of discrimination here by freezing construction for Jewish building in Jerusalem." Jerusalem's local committee on Wednesday approved building permits for 2,610 housing units in the Givat HaMatos neighborhood in Jerusalem. The approval was passed by a vote of six to one, with former deputy mayor of Jerusalem Pepe Alalu voting against the proposal. Givat Hamatos is a southern suburb of the capital located in an area restored to the city during the 1967 Six Day-War. 

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Why are Muslims obsessed with Jews visiting the Temple Mount in Jerusalem?

That's a question the Temple Institute is asking in a new video illustrating the shocking harassment, intimidation and violence faced by Jewish pilgrims to the holiest site in Judaism at the hands of Muslim extremists.

 The video is a montage of several clips - all taken by Muslim worshippers on a single day (1st October) - showing small groups of Jews on the Mount being verbally and, in at least one case, physically assaulted by mobs of Islamists in an attempt to drive them from the holy site. In the last clip, the tactic finally works; a group of Jewish visitors are literally swept off the Mount for their own safety by police as an angry Muslim mob surges forward. 

 The Temple Institute's International Director, Rabbi Chaim Richman, said his organization had produced the video "to expose and publicize the horrific treatment that innocent Jewish visitors are subjected to daily on the Temple Mount - the holiest place in the world for the Jewish people. It is unconscionable that this travesty takes places in the heart of Jerusalem," he added, condemning the fact that amid all the violence by Muslim extremists, the police only made one arrest - of a young Jewish man who eventually responded in kind to the verbal abuse his group had been receiving throughout their visit.

"Those who visit the sacred site do so with expert rabbinical guidance, after taking all the necessary halachic steps and precautions to safeguard sanctity. The visitors goal is simply to have a spiritual experience, to be seen there by God, and to pray. But they are set upon by these malicious Muslim hordes, who act as if they are literally possessed by unbridled hatred. All this takes place under the watchful eyes of the Israel police, who never intervene, never act to distance the groups or stop them from following the Jews, and systematically reward the inciters by banishing the Jews from the Temple Mount whenever the mobs become too unruly - instead of arresting the perpetrators."

Rabbi Richman singled out Internal Security Minister Yitzchak Aharonovich for particularly harsh criticism. He said a recent statement by Aharonovich saying he would like to "tens of thousands" of Jews visiting the Temple Mount was deceptive. "For him to have made this public statement is just another example of his cynical, manipulative disregard and insensitivity... for the orders he issues to the officers on the Temple Mount bespeak the exact opposite: Make it as difficult as possible for Jews to visit the Mount, keep them waiting on long lines for hours before allowing them to enter, subject them to discriminatory searches and identification procedures, threaten them with arrest if they move their lips in prayer - and as can be seen in this film, do nothing when they are set upon by these mobs, other than push the Jews themselves off the Mount."

Rabbi Richman declared:

"As someone who experiences this regularly, I do not find confrontation with these Muslim agitators to be frightening or even the least bit disturbing. On the contrary, I believe this phenomena is a sign that the Muslims themselves know that their days of domination on the Temple Mount are numbered. "They scream when we ascend the Mount because they know that the master of the house is coming home!"

    With the coincidence this Shabbat of the Jewish Day of Repentance (Yom Kippur) and the Muslim "Festival of the Sacrifice" (Eid al-adha), police are gearing up to make sure that both communities stay out of each others' way to avoid potential clashes - especially in places like Jerusalem, where Jews and Arabs live shoulder to shoulder, and most especially in sensitive areas like the Old City. In a press release apparently aimed at right-wing Jews, whom police fear will perpetrate so-called "price tag attacks", police said that they "will not permit damage to any religious symbol or government edifice or representation. There will be zero tolerance for anyone engaging in these acts or inciting others to do so," the statement said.

While Jews will mostly be in synagogue, police noted, Muslims around the country will have a day off, most likely frequenting the national parks and public spaces that will be more or less abandoned by Jews for the day. In addition, Muslims are expected to visit religious sites like the Temple Mount and the Machpelah Cave. Police will be deployed at these sites, as well as at the leisure sites that are expected to be filled with Muslim visitors.

 Police have conducted numerous meetings with local rescue and security officials in many communities in preparation for the big days. Officials have also reached out to local Arab village and community leaders in order to ensure that tension is kept to a minimum, police said. Meanwhile, the IDF said that it had decided to approve 500 family visits in Gaza to Palestinians residing in Judea and Samaria over the age of 60 in honor of the Muslim festival, and 200 permits for travel abroad via the Ben Gurion Airport will be given out to Palestinian Arab businessmen. 500 residents of Gaza, aged 60 and over, will be permitted entry to the Temple Mount complex for prayers on each day of the holiday. Israel has also approved exports of agriculture, including fisheries, from Gaza to Judea and Samaria.

The move comes as part of a general increase in the number of Gaza residents allowed to travel into Judea and Samaria, a gesture in the ongoing ceasefire talks between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas, which are to resume in Cairo in the last week of October. Meanwhile, Arab rioters have been attacking police officers and Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, on a regular basis; last Wednesday ahead of the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) that violence boiled over into wild riots. It has been revealed that Hamas has been actively fanning the violence and funding riots on the Temple Mount to create instability in Israel. 

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