Religious zealots must not be allowed to abuse the Temple Mount

A firm national commitment to ensure the longevity of the two mosques would go far to reduce the space for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood to whip up fears that Muslims will "lose" the mosques. This is a narrative that these groups have used to garner further support and place them front and centre, as so-called "Defenders of the Mosque". They are hardly "defenders" - but, rather, exporters of polarisation, division and intolerance.

Any religious group that seeks to use arms or violence to impose its will in Israel, whether Muslim or Jewish, must be condemned and challenged.

Allied to this must be a firm commitment from the Waqf or religious authority organising prayers in the mosques that everything will be done to stop young men from desecrating the mosques and from undertaking violent actions that have involved rock throwing and the use of Molotov cocktails. No municipality can allow such violence and we should not expect this to be allowed in the heart of Jerusalem and in the holiest of places.

There is no easy solution to what seems an annual merry-go round of violence on the holy site. However, we must always try to find a workable medium because the alternatives strengthen only those who want conflict, death and destruction.

In the end, religious zealots of any kind seek a "rebirth" and a renewal based on exceptionalism, as though they alone have rights. They are a threat to the middle ground in societies who seek peace, trade and joy in pluralistic societies.