Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem… (Daniel 5:3)

Tempers flared during a meeting of the Knesset Committee for the Interior on Monday, over a discussion regarding Jewish visitation rights to the Temple Mount, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Committee chairwoman Miri Regev (Likud) called the session to discuss the continued problems Jewish visitors experience on the Temple Mount. In addition, Deputy Religious Services Minister Eli Ben-Dahan (Bayit Yehudi) announced during the hearing he was seeking to reach an agreement with the Chief Rabbinate, which is opposed to Jewish visitation at the site, for approved and agreed procedures for Jews wishing to pray there.

However, MKs Ahmed Tibi (United Arab List-Ta’al), Jamal Zahalka (Balad) and other Arab lawmakers at the hearing exploded with anger over the proposition to standardize procedures for Jews to go up to the Temple Mount. The Arab parliamentarians even shouted warnings of dire consequences, including a new intifada, should such proposals be advanced.

Tibi was ejected from the meetings but he returned shortly after continuing to scream and prompting the other Arab MKs to storm out of the hearing.

“There is no Temple Mount,” shouted Zahalka. “There is only the Aksa Mosque, I don’t see a Temple Mount, it’s something virtual” he shouted, and continued to call out “al-Aksa” every time anyone in the hearing said the words “Temple Mount.

Zahalka accused the Bayit Yehudi lawmakers present, along with Likud MK Moshe Feiglin, an ardent supporter of Jewish prayer rights on the Temple Mount, of being “pyromaniacs.”

“You’re playing with fire and you’re starting an inferno,” he yelled. “I’m not threatening anything, I’m just saying what will happen.”

Hadash MK Muhammad Barakei averred that “anyone who wants to desecrate al-Aksa [Mosque] will find us there, not here.”

Tibi said that the second intifada had broken out “because of al-Aksa, and because of you it [another intifada] will break out again, also because of al-Aksa.”

He accused Regev of being “irresponsible and dangerous, to yourself, to your children, and also to the public.”

While many rabbis forbid Jews from visiting the mount due to the worry that the may into the area where the Holy of Holies stood, a place forbidden to almost all, an increasing number of devout Orthodox Jews have been visiting the site, citing the opinions of senior rabbis who argue it is possible to visit the Temple Mount while avoiding the prohibited areas.