A small group of Jewish worshippers stood near the Dome of the Rock on Sunday morning, unfurled seven Israeli flags, and sang Hatikvah, Israel’s national anthem. The scene would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. For decades, even minor displays of Jewish national expression on the Temple Mount were met with immediate intervention by police. This time, the participants remained on the site, sang openly, and completed the demonstration without being removed.
The Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, has witnessed a dramatic increase in Jewish visitors in recent years. The sight of Jews ascending the mount, praying quietly, bowing, and now publicly displaying Israeli flags reflects a significant shift in enforcement policies at the site.
The event took place shortly after the Temple Mount was reopened to Jewish visitors following a four-day closure for a Muslim holiday. Video footage circulating on social media showed approximately 10 Jewish worshippers carrying 7 Israeli flags near the Dome of the Rock before singing Hatikvah.
Those displaying the flags were not removed from the compound. According to participants and Temple Mount activists, enforcement authorities acted in accordance with policy changes implemented under National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Rabbi Elisha Wolfson, head of the Temple Mount Yeshiva, welcomed the development.
“It is a great joy to see the process of the return to Zion growing stronger, and to witness the many advances on the Temple Mount,” Rabbi Wolfson said. “There is no doubt that the minister is carrying out a genuine revolution.”
Following the reopening of the site, the Temple Mount Yeshiva published updated visiting hours and encouraged Jews who meet the requirements of ritual purity to ascend the mount.
The display quickly drew international criticism. Turkey condemned the incident, accusing Israel of undermining the status of the site. Jordan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates issued similar statements, describing the raising of Israeli flags and the singing of the national anthem as violations of longstanding arrangements governing the compound.
Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ambassador Sufian Qudah called the event “an unacceptable provocation” and reiterated Amman’s position that the Islamic Waqf is the sole authority responsible for administering the site.
The legal status of the flag display is more complicated than many international reactions suggested.
No Israeli law explicitly prohibits carrying an Israeli flag on the Temple Mount. Israeli law protects freedom of expression and freedom of movement, and the Israeli flag is the national flag of the State of Israel. The restrictions that have traditionally limited Jewish activity on the mount have largely arisen from police policy and administrative decisions intended to preserve public order rather than from legislation passed by the Knesset.
The Temple Mount operates under a framework commonly referred to as the “status quo,” a set of arrangements developed after Israel captured eastern Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in 1967. Under that framework, the Jordanian Islamic Waqf retained responsibility for the day-to-day administration of the Islamic holy sites, while Israel maintained overall security control and authority over access to the compound.
Many observers point to a defining moment immediately after Israel’s victory in the Six-Day War. On June 7, 1967, Israeli paratroopers reached the Temple Mount and raised an Israeli flag over the Dome of the Rock. Defense Minister Moshe Dayan quickly ordered the flag removed.
According to accounts from participants in the battle, Dayan was concerned that leaving the Israeli flag atop one of Islam’s most recognizable shrines would transform a military victory into a religious confrontation with the Muslim world. The order became one of the foundational symbolic acts shaping Israeli policy on the Temple Mount for decades.
The contrast between that moment and Sunday’s flag display is striking. In 1967, Israel’s leadership deliberately removed the national flag from the mount to avoid inflaming tensions. Nearly sixty years later, Jewish worshippers openly carried Israeli flags within the compound itself while police refrained from intervening.
Supporters of the change view it as a natural expression of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem. Critics argue it undermines longstanding understandings governing the site and increases friction with the Muslim world.
The growing Jewish presence on the Temple Mount reflects a broader transformation underway in Israeli society. Numbers that once would have been considered extraordinary have become routine. Tens of thousands of Jews now ascend the mount annually. Practices that were once prohibited or rarely tolerated have gradually become more common.
The debate over flags, prayer, and sovereignty on the Temple Mount is ultimately about the future of Jerusalem itself. Sunday’s demonstration was carried out by only a handful of worshippers, but the image of Israeli flags waving beside the Dome of the Rock captured a reality that would have astonished previous generations. The policies established in the aftermath of the Six-Day War are being tested, challenged, and redefined. Whether welcomed or condemned, the events on the Temple Mount demonstrate that the status quo is no longer standing still.
