Naftali Bennett’s office clarifies that he did not mean to endorse ‘freedom of worship’ for Jews on Temple Mount

By Ben Sales

(JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office backtracked on his statement claiming that Jews had “freedom of worship” on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Allowing Jews freedom of worship there would be a major change at a contested holy site that has been the origin of wider outbreaks of violence.

Israel has controlled the Temple Mount, which Muslims revere as the Noble Sanctuary, since it captured the site from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War,...