Rabbi Yehuda Glick talks about Temple Mount and the position Israel finds itself in today.

Rabbi Yehuda Glick

Paul: Rabbi Yehuda, what is it like for you representing your country in the Knesset.

Rabbi Yehuda: It's a great privilege and every single day I wake up and I say to myself, "God thank you for the privilege" and I hope that every action I do, every word I say, I shall sanctify His name and God forbid not disgrace it.

Paul: You are championing the cause for Jews being allowed on the Temple Mount to pray. What is life like on the Temple Mount for Jews who go up there?

Rabbi Yehuda: I am very happy to say that the past two years there has been a major change. Up to two years ago any Jew who would ascend the Temple Mount would be a victim of violence, of hate, harassment, and incitement. Two years ago we outlawed the northern Islamic organisation that were organising the violence on the Temple Mount, and ever since then it has been pretty quiet there.

People go every single day. The number of Jews is climbing, 2018 we had more than 30,000 Jews ascending the Temple Mount, where just for a comparison, the year earlier there were 16,000. That's almost double the number and more and more are ascending all the time. It's really in my eyes a great historical event, biblical era, prophetic era, and that is what we see.

Paul: Are you allowed to pray up there as a Jew on the Temple Mount?

Rabbi Yehuda: They don't allow Jews to demonstrate prayer. You can go up there and I think that makes the prayer much deeper. If you ascend Temple Mount without holding a book, without shaking, just a prayer from inside is stronger than anything else in the world.

Paul: Does it seem crazy that this is Israel, it's a holy place for the Jews, yet you can't really pray there?

Rabbi Yehuda: This world is not a complete world, for 2000 years it was crazy that the Jews weren't home in their homeland. So that's life and our objective in this life is to try and improve it, and bring the change.

Paul: When you go up there do you see children being disrespectful like playing football on the site?

Rabbi Yehuda: We prefer to look at the positive side. We see many Jews ascending, many Christians ascending, many Muslims ascending peacefully, quietly, praying to God from the city of Jerusalem; Jerusalem of peace, Jerusalem the house of God and we see it happening. The words of the Prophet that the Temple Mount should become a house of prayer for all nations.

Paul: Do you believe that one day the third temple will be built there?

Rabbi Yehuda: Just like every one of the prophecies have materialised and become reality, we see that all happening and I am sure we will build a third temple as well. The third temple, as the prophets tell us, will be a house of prayer for all nations.

Paul: You have stood up for the right for Jews to pray on the Temple Mount and this has threatened your life. Tell us what happened.