Knesset Constitution Committee Chairman Simcha Rothman sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday with an “urgent request” to permit the blowing of the shofar and to allow the Musaf service to be held on the Temple Mount on Rosh Hashanah.

The letter, with the subject line, “Urgent request to permit shofar blowing and open the Temple Mount for prayers on Rosh Hashanah 5787,” asked for permission to open the Temple Mount for these services on the first day of the holiday.

“The blowing of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah is one of the central and most important commandments of the holiday. The inability to blow the shofar on the Temple Mount on this day constitutes a significant infringement on the public’s ability to fulfill this commandment in the holy place,” the MK wrote.

“The opening of the Temple Mount for the Musaf prayer on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, which falls on Shabbat, is a rare opportunity for the public at large to come and pray in the holy place on a major holiday. The restriction on access on this day prevents many Jews from being able to exercise their right to pray at the site that is most important to our people,” he added.

After the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel delivered control over the Temple Mount to the Jordanian-controlled Jerusalem Islamic Waqf. While Israel maintained security control, the site was restricted for non-Muslims, and non-Muslim worship was banned.

Although the purpose of keeping the status quo was to preserve the peace, critics have argued that its acceptance by the international community demonstrated an unfair double standard: While Jews have been banned from praying at their holiest site without a hint of protest from activists worldwide, if the roles were reversed, global condemnations of Israel would surely be forthcoming. They argue that the idea itself that Israel would prevent Muslims from worshiping at their holy sites is unimaginable.

For that reason, in July, Congress called for freedom of worship at the site that is holy to the world’s three major Abrahamic religions.

Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) introduced the resolution last October calling for “equal access and religious freedom for Christians, Muslims and the Jewish people at one of the world’s most sacred sites.” The resolution came to the floor last month, when Tenney took to the podium to explain her position, using the personal experience of one of her staffers to make her point.

“When one of my staffers ascended the Temple Mount last year, he was harassed by Muslim onlookers, restricted from visiting most of the site, and was only allowed to be upon the Temple Mount for a very short duration of time,” she said.

“Madam Chair, it’s unconscionable that Jews do not enjoy the same access rights to visit and pray at their holiest site, that other religions do. This is a basic tenet and principle of religious freedom, and the U.S. must do more on this issue,” she added.

In a social media statement posted alongside a video of her remarks, the congresswoman wrote, “Today, the House adopted my amendment calling on the U.S. to defend religious freedom and equal access at the Temple Mount.”

“Jews are denied the freedom to pray at their holiest site while Muslims and Christians worship freely. They deserve that same right. This should not be controversial,” she declared.