'It Was Relentless': U.S. Congressmen Harassed on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount

A delegation of U.S. congressmen was harassed by Muslim men while on a visit to Jerusalem's Temple Mount on Tuesday.

For much of their visit to the holy site, Reps. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), Keith Rothfus (R-Penn.) and Evan Jenkins, (R-W.Va) were harassed by Muslim officials and passersby, said E.J. Kimball, director of U.S. operations for the Israel Allies Foundation.

Islamic trust officials repeatedly interrupted the tour guide's presentation and demanded to see his maps and educational materials. An Israeli police officer tried to intervene on behalf of the tour group. (Photo courtesy E.J. Kimball)

“Probably for more than half of our time on the Temple Mount, some sort of harassment – either someone standing next to us, someone interrupting the tour guide, loud yelling. They were certainly trying to intimidate us and our right to be up there,” Kimball told TheBlaze.

Rothfus said the haranguing began almost immediately upon their arrival.

“We weren’t even there for a minute, and we were approached and reproached and that was constant, it was relentless,” the Pennsylvania Republican told TheBlaze by phone upon his return to the U.S.

The group’s tour was repeatedly interrupted both by Muslim men at the site and by staff from the Islamic Waqf, a trust that maintains authority over the site.

Kimball said in addition to being shouted at, the group had Waqf officials eavesdrop on their conversations and a Muslim official challenge the tour guide for showing a map.

“The guy just walks right up as if he was invited and puts his hands out in, totally out of bounds with what you’d expect from a site with historic and religious significance for the three monotheistic religions in the world,” Rothfus said.

Both the delegation sponsor and lawmaker said they had no information suggesting those trying to disrupt their tour knew the visitors were U.S. congressmen.

Israeli and foreign visitors regularly complain that they are harassed and verbally abused on the Temple Mount by Muslim men and women who Israeli authorities have said are paid to intimidate visitors. In some cases, Jewish visitors have been physically attacked.

As the spot on which both the First and Second Temples once stood, the Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism. It is considered the third-holiest site in Islam after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

“While we were harassed, I saw Jewish folks being harassed at a much higher level,” including “women crowd around and yelling ‘Allahu akbar.’ It’s unfortunate you have to think twice about wearing a yarmulke on the Temple Mount,” Rothfus said.

Members of the delegation who visited the Temple Mount, including Reps. Keith Rothfus (second left), Evan Jenkins (third right) and Trent Franks (second right). (Photo: Israel Allies Foundation – IsraeliAllies.org)

Kimball told TheBlaze that Tuesday’s intimidation began when a man yelled at the West Virginia Republican’s wife, Elizabeth Jenkins, telling her she needed to be dressed more modestly beyond her calf-length skirt and long-sleeved shirt.

That led to a verbal confrontation, which police were called in to break up.

When the delegation’s tour guide began explaining the history of the site and held a map of Israel, a man approached the guide to look at the map and to demand he not use the term “Temple Mount” and instead say “Dome of the Rock.”

Other men wearing clothing identifying them as employees of the Islamic trust repeatedly interrupted the tour guide and tried to confiscate his maps, Kimball said. Police were called in again to break up the commotion instigated by some 15 to 20 men, who once again harassed the group.

Elizabeth Jenkins, the wife of Rep. Evan Jenkins, was told to cover up further. (Photo courtesy E.J. Kimball)

“How I felt was quite disappointed that while Israel has sovereignty over the Temple Mount, Jews and Christians and non-Muslims are not welcome to come up there,” Kimball said.

“While we were being accused of not being dressed modestly because this is a holy place … they’re up there smoking cigarettes, dropping ash on the ground. … If this is such a holy place we shouldn’t be smoking cigarettes and leaving ash on the ground of the Temple Mount,” Kimball added.

“You would think they would have a better ambassador for their cause, because they’re not winning any friends this way," Rothfus said.

It’s not the first time a U.S. congressman has been harassed on the Temple Mount.

Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) was harassed by a group of Muslim women when he visited the holy site earlier this year.

He said that the women shouted at him “Allahu akbar” and “leave!”

Last week, a Christian tourist from France was physically attacked, apparently because he was carrying an Israeli flag at the holy site.

The Congress members' visit to Israel was organized by the Israel Allies Foundation, which according to its website works to encourage parliaments around the world to increase support for Israel based on shared Judeo-Christian values.

The delegation traveled from the Golan Heights, where they heard explosions from the fighting over the border in Syria, to Sderot in the south, which has been targeted thousands of times by Hamas rockets. In southern Israel, they toured Hamas terror tunnels that have been uncovered by the Israel Defense Forces.

“Israel is literally on the frontier of defending Western liberal democracy unlike any other country,” Rothfus said.