68,000 Jews visited Temple Mount in last year, highest on record

According to Beyadenu, a Jerusalem-based non-profit, 68,429 Jews ascended the Temple Mount, a 22 per cent increase compared to last year's 56,057.

"This marks the highest number recorded since systematic documentation began -- and likely the highest since the destruction of the Second Temple," the organisation said.

Asked about the significance of the numbers, Beyadenu spokesperson Akiva Ariel told The Press Service of Israel, "The importance is that there is a change. There is a great awakening in the people of Israel. Once, talk about the Temple and the Temple Mount was attributed to supposedly extremist areas. Today, people talk about the Temple and breathe the Temple."

The Temple Mount, where the First and Second Jewish Temples were built, is the holiest site in Judaism.

The delicate status quo governing the Temple Mount goes back to 1967, when Israel liberated Jerusalem's Old City from Jordan during the Six-Day War. Fearing a religious war, then-defence minister Moshe Dayan agreed to let the Islamic Waqf, a Muslim trusteeship, continue managing the holy site's day-to-day affairs, while Israel would maintain overall sovereignty and be responsible for security. The Waqf is overseen by the Jordanian monarchy.

According to the status quo, while non-Muslims are allowed to visit the Temple Mount, they are not permitted to pray there.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that Jewish prayer is not officially permitted at the site. However, the police, who are responsible for enforcing the ban, fall under the purview of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. He has advocated Jewish worship at the holy site for years. Ben-Gvir openly led Jewish prayers at the site in August during Tisha B'Av, a holiday marking the anniversaries of the destruction of both the First and Second Temples.

Rabbis are increasingly divided over Jews ascending the Temple Mount. For centuries, the widespread rabbinic consensus was that Jewish laws of ritual purity still apply to the site, restricting Jews from visiting. But in recent years, a growing number of rabbis have argued that ritual purity laws don't apply to all sections of the holy site and encourage visits to permitted areas to maintain Jewish connections to the Temple Mount.

The Western Wall, the holiest spot where Jews can pray, is the only remnant of a retaining wall encircling the Temple Mount built by Herod the Great in the first century. (ANI/TPS)