The Temple Mount advocacy group Beyadenu (Returning to the Temple Mount) organization submitted a petition to the Supreme Court of Israel against the government of Israel, the police, and the Jerusalem municipality, demanding that they act immediately to prevent the Jordanian Waqf from dumping garbage within the Temple Mount area.

In the past, there has been video documentation of waste being disposed of on the Temple Mount by garbage trucks. The documentation shows several vehicles dumping garbage in this holy place without any enforcement. These actions were condemned publicly by the Israel Antiquities Authority.

In the past year, Beyadenu approached the relevant authorities several times to stop the dumping of garbage, but to no avail. The petition states that this is not an isolated incident. When the organization turned to the Jerusalem police, they were told that “the garbage disposal on the Temple Mount is done as usual, and that the garbage disposal does not require examination or intervention.

Attorney Menashe Yado, who filed the petition on behalf of the Beyadenu organization, argued that “the removal of garbage is carried out to a point of concentration, and the disposal of garbage is located within the area of Ezrat Yisrael, which is holy to the Jewish people.” According to the petitioners, this constitutes a severe violation of the site that is holy to the Jewish people as the former site of the Temples.

“It is hard to imagine what would happen if, God forbid, garbage were dumped in front of the Vatican’s Papal residence. On the Temple Mount, the situation is even more severe,” said Tom Nissani, CEO of the Beyadenu organization. “As long as the State of Israel does not show respect for its holy places, no one else will respect its connection to them.”

“Anyone who thinks that the garbage disposal is happening by chance in the Holy of Holies is deluding themselves. There is a deliberate attempt to degrade and humiliate. Preserving the sanctity of the place is a national interest. The Jerusalem police, the Jerusalem municipality, and the State of Israel cannot absolve themselves of responsibility for the actions of the Waqf on the Temple Mount.”