Police forces raided last night a number of houses of activists in the “Returning to the Mount” group, and arrested a number of the activists after presenting arrest warrants.
Members of the group said that Police asserted the arrests were were intended to prevent youth in the group from organizing a Pesach (Passover) offering ceremony on the Temple Mount.
Police also arrived at the home of the parents of Rafael Morris, who heads the group, but Morris was not present at the time. His parents said that, if Police want to arrest Morris, they must find him at his home in the Binyamin region.
Attorney Itamar Ben-Gvir, who his accompanying the youth in legal proceedings, said: “We are talking about arrests intended to silence, and Police need to allow Temple Mount activists freedom of worship. Israel is losing its democratic character, and it cannot be that they arrest people in the middle of the night only because they seek to fulfill Jewish religious practice.”
Rafael Morris said in response to the arrests: “It is a disgrace that the State of Israel acts with an iron fist against people who just want to renew one of the important commandments in the Torah. Police will not deny us our right to sacrifice a Pesach offering, I am sure that, for every activist arrested, dozens more will arrive at the Temple Mount on the eve of Passover with their Pesach offerings.”
