One of Israeli’s most well-known activist rabbis who pushed for Jewish prayer rights on the Temple Mount was shot multiple times in the chest Wednesday night and is fighting for his life in a Jerusalem hospital.
Rabbi Yehuda Glick, chairman of the Temple Mount Heritage Foundation, appeared in the new documentary released by WND Films, “End Times Eyewitness: Islam and the Unfolding Signs of the Messiah’s Return,” which was directed by Joel Richardson.
Glick had just left the Menachem Begin Heritage Center where he was one of the speakers for a conference titled “Israel Returns to the Temple Mount.”
He was putting some posters from the conference into his car when a man reportedly drove up on a motorcycle and asked Glick to identify himself. When he said he was Yehuda Glick, the man pulled a gun and shot him three times at point-blank range before speeding off, according to witnesses.
According to police, the shooting took place at approximately 10:30 p.m. Israel time outside the memorial center, located near the Temple Mount. The shooter is still at large.
“Shots were fired and the victim was rushed to an area hospital in serious condition,” Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told Vos Iz Neias (What is News), a news site that publishes in Yiddish and English. “Special patrol units are searching the area for the suspect, and we are investigating the background of the incident.”
A city official, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the attack, said the victim is believed to be Glick, who has a long history of advocating for Jewish prayer rights at the Temple Mount.
“It was an assassination attempt,” the official said. “This is very serious.”
Following the shooting, Police Chief Yohanan Danino ordered the police readiness level raised to the second highest level in every district nationwide.
The Temple Mount Heritage Foundation is an umbrella organization of several Temple Mount groups and Glick has been actively involved for at least 25 years, Richardson told WND.
“He’s been going up to the Temple Mount and letting the people know the importance of the Temple Mount to the Jews,” Richardson said. “What’s real sad is all the headlines will say ‘right-wing rabbi’ and make him sound like a zealot, but he is one of the sweetest, kindest, almost silly at times, just fun, yet passionate guys you will ever meet. You know my heart is just broken. I know he has a family.”
Glick was also a spokesman for the Joint Committee of Temple Organizations.
Glick was taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.
Bayit Yehudi Minister Uri Ariel said following the shooting, “I am praying for the full recovery of Yehuda Glick. The bullets fired at him tonight were directed at all the Jews that want to exercise their Jewish and moral right to visit the most holy place to the Jewish people and to pray at the Temple Mount.
“I call on the prime minister to immediately allow every Jew to freely go to the Temple Mount and to act with an iron fist against the criminals responsible for this deed.”
Israel decided Wednesday night to prohibit access to the Temple Mount Thursday to both Muslims and Jews until further notice, following the shooting in Jerusalem of Rabbi Yehudah Glick, a right-wing activist with the Temple Mount Faithful.
Jerusalem District Police Commander Moshe Edri together with Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch assessed intelligence reports on the ground, according to a police spokesman, and issued a directive barring Muslim and Jewish worshipers from accessing the holy site.
Right-wing activists, including some members of Knesset, had called to march on the Temple Mount en masse Thursday morning in response to the suspected attempted assassination which left Glick in serious, but stable, condition.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for an increased police presence in Jerusalem, as security forces were on high alert across the country.
“We are all praying for Yehudah’s well-being,” said Netanyahu.
Glick had finished a speech at a conference at the Begin Center, entitled “Israel returns to the Temple Mount.” Eyewitnesses said that after the event, a man with an Arabic accent approached Glick and asked him for his identity. The man then shot the victim, got on the motorcycle and fled, suggesting this was possibly an assassination attempt on Glick specifically.
Moriah Halamish, who was at the conference, described the suspected gunman.
“When the conference ended, we went outside. No one was there except a man with dark skin, dressed in black, waiting by a motorcycle. He approached Yehudah and addressed him, telling him ‘Yehudah, I’m sorry, you’ve made me angry,’ before firing [his weapon]. He spoke with a clear Arabic accent,” she said.
Channel 2 reported Wednesday night following the incident that Glick had turned to police at least five times recently to complain about threats to his life.
A message on a jihadist Palestinian website about the conference he attended prior to the shooting, which included details on the time, location and attendees, was being looked into by police, Channel 2 reported. The post also called on Palestinians to prevent the meeting, according to the report.
MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud), who was in attendance at Wednesday evening’s event at the Begin Center in Jerusalem before the shooting of leading Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick, said that “the writing was on the wall”.
"The shooter made sure that it was Yehuda before he shot him," Feiglin told Arutz Sheva, adding that the incident took place after a "calm and simple conference at the Begin Heritage Center.”
"Every Jew who ascends the Temple Mount is a target of violence. It starts with shouting, continues with spitting, throwing rocks and then with Yehuda being followed,” said Feiglin.
He stressed that "the writing was on the wall. The weakness of the government, the security forces and of the Minister of Public Security against the Arab conduct on the Temple Mount and the harassment of Jews, stimulates the continuation of violence and leads to attempted murder."
Feiglin called for the Temple Mount to be opened to Jews freely as a response to the shooting, “but knowing the police, they will actually close the Temple Mount instead of opening it.”
Witnesses said that Glick was shot outside the Begin Heritage center inJerusalem, after a terrorist pulled up in a scooter or motorcycle and shot him before fleeing the scene.
Initial reports are indicating that Glick - who founded and heads the LIBA Initiative for Jewish Freedom on the Temple Mount - was deliberately targeted for nationalistic reasons, but police have not yet officially announced a motive.
Glick is in serious but stable condition at the Sha’arei Tzedek Medical Center in the capital, and is undergoing surgery.
"The shooter made sure that it was Yehuda before he shot him," Feiglin told Arutz Sheva, adding that the incident took place after a "calm and simple conference at the Begin Heritage Center.”
"Every Jew who ascends the Temple Mount is a target of violence. It starts with shouting, continues with spitting, throwing rocks and then with Yehuda being followed,” said Feiglin.
He stressed that "the writing was on the wall. The weakness of the government, the security forces and of the Minister of Public Security against the Arab conduct on the Temple Mount and the harassment of Jews, stimulates the continuation of violence and leads to attempted murder."
Feiglin called for the Temple Mount to be opened to Jews freely as a response to the shooting, “but knowing the police, they will actually close the Temple Mount instead of opening it.”
Witnesses said that Glick was shot outside the Begin Heritage center inJerusalem, after a terrorist pulled up in a scooter or motorcycle and shot him before fleeing the scene.
Initial reports are indicating that Glick - who founded and heads the LIBA Initiative for Jewish Freedom on the Temple Mount - was deliberately targeted for nationalistic reasons, but police have not yet officially announced a motive.
Glick is in serious but stable condition at the Sha’arei Tzedek Medical Center in the capital, and is undergoing surgery.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on the international community to establish a new world order with the aim of preventing future conflicts. Speaking at an international discussion forum in Sochi, Putin affirmed the immutability of Russia’s position and called on the West to enter into a dialogue to solve today’s problems.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of precipitating the collapse of the international security system and abusing its role as global hegemon
Speaking on Oct. 24 in Sochi during a meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club, an annual forum which brings together experts from dozens of countries to debate the role of Russia in the world, Putin called for priority to be placed on building a new system of relations that would prevent global and interstate conflicts.
He laid the majority of the responsibility for today’s problems on the United States, whose policies he said have led to the collapse of the global security system and a series of coups in the Middle East and Ukraine.
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