The visit by Knesset member Jamal Zahalka (Joint List of predominantly Arab parties) to the Temple Mount on the morning of Sept. 29 gave the impression that he wanted to incite a major riot and drag the police officers accompanying a group of Jewish worshipers at the site into a conflict with him. Video footage of the visit featured later that day on various social media platforms and TV news showed Zahalka insulting the police and trying to provoke them.
Zahalka arrived at the site after several tense days in Jerusalem. Meanwhile, world leaders who had gathered in New York for the annual meeting of the General Assembly of the United Nations were keeping a close eye on the Temple Mount. In his speech, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi addressed the escalation in tensions, saying that events in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa underscore the need for a “decisive final solution” to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Upon leaving for New York, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that in his speech he would “demand a halt to this wild incitement” on the Temple Mount.
