Israeli far-right politician detained by police after attempting to pray at Temple Mount

Source : Xinhua | English.news.cn

JERUSALEM, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Israel's far-right politician from the Likud Party, Moshe Feiglin, was detained and then released on Tuesday after trying to pray at Temple Mount.

An undercover cop who was at the scene removed Feiglin from the premises, without any violence ensuing.

According to a report on the Ynet news website, Feiglin was detained for a brief questioning and was asked to sign a paper in which he will state he would not attempt to pray at the site again, yet he refused to do so.

Nonetheless, the police forces in the capital released the politician without any restrictions.

Temple Mount is a holy site to both Jews and Muslims. There are restricted regulations at the site meant to prevent clashes between crowds of believers and it is heavily monitored. Jews are only allowed to visit the site but not worship there, fearing a backlash from the Muslim community.

While the Islamic Waqf runs the site, the Israeli police are in charge of the security there.

This is not the first time Feiglin is detained after attempting to pray at the holy site. In October, Feiglin was arrested along with four other Jewish worshippers, for attempting to pray at the scene.

In August, Knesset (parliament) member Arieh Eldad introduced a bill offering to divide prayer times at the site. The bill suggested making a calendar dividing weekdays and holy days for Muslim and Jewish worshippers to pray at