Rabbi Yehudah Glick, president of the Shalom Jerusalem Foundation, told Newsmax on Tuesday that President-elect Donald Trump, like in his first term, will be a promoter of peace in the Middle East, especially with regards to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
The Temple Mount, or Zion, as Glick called it, is the holiest site in the world for Jews and the third-holiest for Muslims. For Christians, it is believed to be where Jesus challenged the temple authorities, an act that could have directly led to his arrest and crucifixion. It consists of three main sacred sites: the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, sacred to Muslims for its ties to the life of the Prophet Muhammad; and the site of the first and second Jewish temples, which were destroyed in ancient times.
"President Trump, in his previous term, promoted peace in the region," Glick, a former member of Israel's Knesset, told "The Chris Salcedo Show." "The Abraham Accords we all are aware of. He recognized Jerusalem, the godly city, as the capital of Israel, but not only the capital of Israel, capital of faith in the world.
"I do believe that in his next term, he will have an opportunity to turn Zion, the Temple Mount, as a place of peace. And Isaiah teaches us that the story of turning swords into plowshares begins here on Zion, the house of prayer for all nations."
Although Israel maintains security for the Temple mount, an Islamic waqf, or trust, funded by Jordan oversees it, according to the American Jewish Congress. Jews are allowed to visit but not pray there; they can pray at the Western Wall, which stands adjacent to the Temple Mount.
Glick, a former Israeli presidential candidate who survived an assassination attempt in 2014 near the Temple Mount, said he wants the area "to be a house of prayer for all nations."
"I'm sure you're aware that the most holy place in the world, in the Bible, and billions of believers in the Bible want to see this place as a place representing, as you mentioned, Shalom, peace," Glick said. "It's a holy place. And of course, we as Jews, the first and second temples stood there, and today we're living in a time where Muslims have taken over the place and want this place to be exclusively Muslim."
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.