Law Proposal: Partition Plan On Har HaBayit

As you all know by now, the Supreme Court has supported the right of jews to pray on Har HaBayit, but has left the practilaties of making it happen in the hands of the Israel Police, that if they should see a reason (as an exception to the rule) to cancel the prayers due to public safety, they would be able to. The police take advantage of that exception and say no prayers at all because the Arabs might riot.

Recently the head of the coalition, MK Zeev Elkin criticized the police for their stance regarding Har HaBayit. Elkin has called for finding a solution to give Jews more access and to allow prayers, and wants the Knesset to discuss the issue and find a solution.

In the meantime, MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) has submitted a law proposal that would solve the Har HaBayit issue.

Another sensitive location, a place that was more than once a site of conflict and hostility between Arabs and Jews, is the Me'arat HaMachpela in Hebron. To solve the issue of giving everyone access to the holy site, the Me'ara was divided up, with the jews given access to some parts and the Arabs to other parts,, the whole year round. And there were designated a certain number of days scattered throughout the year (11 days I think) in which Arabs have the entire site and it is closed to jews, and another similar amount of days in which jews have the entire site and it is closed to Arabs.

And that solution has, so far, been found to work. Think of it like the Partition Plan. Had the Arabs said "yes" we would have shared the land and possibly learned to live together. the Arabs said no and that led to a lot of strife. In Hebron the Arabs said "yes" and so far so good.

Har Habayit, according to Eldad's proposal would work on a similar model. Eldad proposed that certain days of the year the Har would be designated for only Jewish access, and on other certain days of the year it would be designated for Arab access. On a normal basis it would be open to jews certain hours of the day and to Arabs other hours of the day, and Eldad specified how it should be divided, by daily hours and by which holidays it should be for Jews and which for Arabs.

so, Eldad's proposal does not make it exactly the same as the division used by Me'arat HaMachpela, as their the Me'ara is divided by rooms and Jews have access all year round all the time to certain parts, as do Arabs to other parts, and only on certain special days is one or the other granted complete access. By Har Habayit Eldad is proposing a division based on time of day, rather than saying that certain sections of the Har will be open to jews only, certain only to Arabs, and on specific days of the year it will be completely accessible for only one or the other.

I think this is a reasonable solution. The Arabs won't like it because they will be getting it less than they do now, and they will have to accept the fact that Jews will be praying on Har Habayit and not just "touring" under their watchful eye. The Jews will like it because it will give us more than we currently have. However, when it is being unfairly divided and exploited, I think a division down the middle, a partition plan of sorts, is reasonable.