Resolution on Jerusalem and The Temple Mount

WHEREAS the Temple Mount and the remnants of the Temple have been sacred to the people of Israel and to the Jewish religion for centuries; and

WHEREAS Moslem religious leaders have denied this historic connection of Judaism and the Jewish People to the Temple Mount and to the Western Wall; and

WHEREAS these attempts have been supported and initiated by members of the Palestinian Authority in an attempt to delegitimize the Israeli presence in Jerusalem.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Rabbinical Assembly strongly affirm that Jerusalem and the Temple Mount have been at the heart of Judaism at least since the days of King David, over 3,000 years ago; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Rabbinical Assembly, while the realizing the importance of this site in Islamic tradition, call upon religious leaders of Islam to respect the centrality of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount to the Jewish People throughout our history, and to acknowledge the truth of historical Jewish presence in these holy places.

Passed by the Rabbinical Assembly Plenum, June, 2001