Occupied Jerusalem- In a step which contradicts the public policies of previous Israeli governments since 1967, an official in the Israeli Prime Minister's office said that Jews are allowed to perform prayers in the Holy Shrine of Al Aqsa Mosque and that they had never been prohibited from doing so.

Israeli press sources said that the new official attitude was made clear in a reply sent by the Prime Minister's legal advisor in response to a letter by the leader of the Temple Mount, a Jewish extremist group.

The Israeli official said in his reply regarding the Jewish prayers in Al Aqsa that "to the best of my knowledge, Jews have never been forbidden to pray at the 'Temple Mount', Al Aqsa." He advised the leader of the Jewish group to discuss this matter with the Israeli Police who organize the entry of Jews into Al Aqsa Mosque, although the Mosque is under the supervision of the Islamic Awqaf Department in Jerusalem.

The Israeli sources added that the Israeli governments over the past 30 years of occupation of East Jerusalem had prohibited Jews from praying in Al Aqsa in order to avoid public reaction and religious conflicts between Jews and Muslims who have resisted all attempts to partition the Mosque. They pointed out that in 1967, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan made a clear decision prohibiting Jews from performing any kind of religious rite in the Holy Shrine of Al Aqsa. The decision was upheld by the Israeli Supreme Court on many occasions during the past three decades.

The sources revealed that the leader of the Temple Mount, after receiving the Prime Minister's reply, went to the Police Chief in Jerusalem and submitted a written request to allow him and his group to perform their prayers in Al Aqsa under the supervision of the police. The Jewish extremist pledged before the Police Chief to perform all religious rites quietly and without any fuss.

On the other hand, the legal advisor in Netanyahu's office said he had only allowed Jews to perform their prayers in Al Aqsa individually, which he alleged to be legally allowed. But the Israeli Haaretz newspaper said that the Israeli Supreme Court had rejected in the early 1970s a request submitted at that time by a Jewish extremist to perform his prayers alone in Al Aqsa. The paper added that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu had pledged in a written letter to the leader of a Jewish extremist group before being elected last May to "arrange for the Jews the right to pray in the temple Mount."