PA libel: Israel intends to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and build the alleged Temple

Official PA TV host: Since the June War (i.e., the Six-Day War in 1967) – we are talking about its 55th anniversary – there are [Israeli] intentions to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and build the alleged Temple, and [it is] not just a division according to times and areas that will befall the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

[Official PA TV, Palestine This Morning, June 6, 2022]

“Division according to areas and times” refers to a submission of a “private bill” by Israeli MP Uri Ariel in March 2003. The bill suggested ensuring freedom of religious worship by allowing both Jews and Muslims to pray on the Temple Mount - what the Palestinians call the Al-Aqsa Mosque plaza. The bill sought to designate separate prayer times and areas of the site for Muslims and Jews. The bill never progressed past the initial legislatory stage. While there was additional discussion on the subject in 2012, no legislation was ever passed. 

Answering to the incessant PA claims that the “division according to areas and times” of the Temple Mount is an actual Israeli plan, former Israeli PM Netanyahu has stated on many occasions that the Israeli government has no intention of ‎changing the so-called status quo at the Temple Mount, which de facto is interpreted to mean Jews are only allowed to enter the Temple Mount, but not to conduct individual or communal prayers there.  In July 2021, Israeli PM Naftali Bennett said Muslims and Jews have freedom of worship at the Temple Mount, which by many was understood as a hint to a change in the status quo at the site, but the following day his office backtracked and said he misspoke and did not mean Jews would have freedom of worship, but rather would have freedom to visit. “There is no change in the status quo,” a statement from PM Bennett’s office confirmed.