Amid the observances marking Yom Yerushalayim, Rav Shmuel Eliyahu called Friday on Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu and members of the Israeli government to advance the establishment of a shul on Har Habayis, declaring that the time has come for a permanent Jewish presence at the site.

Rav Eliyahu, the rov of Tzfas and a member of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate Council, delivered the remarks while standing opposite Har Habayis.

“You see the mosque behind me, Al-Aqsa,” Rav Eliyahu said. “This is from the exile. For two thousand years we were in exile, so they (the Muslims) built this structure here. But in truth, this was the site of the First Beis Hamikdash, which brought Kiddush Hashem to the world, the Second Beis Hamikdash, and here will be the Third Beis Hamikdash — that is a fact. This is how Hashem planned it, and this is how it will be.”

Rav Eliyahu said that until the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash, the State of Israel should establish a permanent Jewish foothold on Har Habayis through the construction of a shul in an area permissible according to halacha.

“In the meantime, until the Beis Hamikdash is built, there needs to be a shul here,” he said. “Now the Muslims already understand that this is not theirs. We need to establish our hold.”

During his remarks, Rav Eliyahu also referenced his father, Rav Mordechai Eliyahu zt”l, saying that he had previously ruled that it is permissible to establish a shul on Har Habayis in areas where entry is allowed according to halacha.

Concluding his statement, Rav Eliyahu issued a direct appeal to Israel’s leadership.

“This is our role, this is the role of Am Yisroel, this is the role of the leaders, the government ministers, the prime minister,” he said. “A shul on Har Habayis — the time has come!”

{Matzav.com}