‘Am Yisrael Chai’ is legal

The Jerusalem Magistrate Court ruled on Monday that it is permitted for visitors to the Temple Mount to yell out “Am Yisrael Chai” (“The nation of Israel lives”) because it is a patriotic declaration, rather than a prayer.

In an agreement made between Israel and Jordan following Israel’s capture of Jerusalem’s Old City during the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel maintains security control of the Temple Mount, while Jordan’s religious Waqf controls religious practice. Because of the arrangement, Jews are barred from praying on the Temple Mount.

Monday’s ruling is in the case of attorney Itamar Ben Gvir, who in 2015 was ousted from the Temple Mount. Ben Gvir was touring with a group of Jews when he was accosted by a Muslim woman who yelled “Allahu Akbar” (“Allah is the greatest”) at them. When he shouted back “Am Yisrael Chai,” he was immediately taken into custody by police, who told him he broke the law.

Ben Gvir called his court victory “a gift to the Jewish people on the eve of Israel’s 70th Independence Day.”

“I believe that the time has come for the courts to rule that Jews are allowed to pray on the Temple Mount, just as Muslims are permitted to pray at the site,” he said. “There can be no wrongful discrimination at the most important site for the people of Israel.”

Two weeks ago, the Jordanian government filed an official complaint to Israel’s Foreign Ministry over a March court ruling allowing Jews to pray just outside the gated entrance to the Temple Mount holy site. JNS