A fringe religious group on Monday night asked newly installed National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for permission to perform the Passover ritual sacrifice on the Temple Mount this coming spring.
The “Returning to the Mount” group makes this request every year, to no avail. But Ben Gvir, who ascended the Temple Mount on Tuesday morning, is no normal police minister, and they stand a better chance than ever before to get permission to perform the controversial animal sacrifice ritual.
“Each year, we make many efforts to advance the Passover sacrifice, both in national educational campaigns and in practice, as each year we attempt to make the sacrifice in its proper place and time,” the group said.
Most Israeli security officials believe that permitting the Passover sacrifice on the Temple Mount would prompt fierce protests by Muslims, in Jerusalem, the West Bank and in neighboring Arab countries, who would see it as a major change to the status quo on the holy site. As a result, these requests have always been denied, though activists have been permitted to perform the ritual slaughter of a lamb within the Old City, but outside the Temple Mount.
“This year, in light of the political situation and the formation of a ‘fully right-wing’ government for the first time in a long time, there is real potential that the Passover sacrifice could be performed in a respectful way, with approval from and coordination with all of the different authorities, principally the Israel Police, which are under your power as the new national security minister of the State of Israel,” the group wrote.
In the past, Ben Gvir has allegedly attempted to perform the Passover sacrifice himself, and more recently he has defended in court other activists who have tried to do so, arguing that it is undemocratic to forbid Jews from performing a religious commandment.
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The rapture will speed up the building of the third temple.
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