Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke on Saturday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who expressed his concern over the security situation in Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount.
Erdoğan also expressed his condolences for the recent deadly terror attacks in Israel, according to an Israeli government statement.
Herzog thanked Erdoğan for the condolences and emphasized that Israel is firmly committed to preserving the status quo at the holy sites, in general, and on the Temple Mount in particular.
The Israeli president said that Iran, through proxies such as Hamas, is conducting a multi-front campaign to undermine regional stability. Its terrorism is based on religious incitement and focuses on the situation in Jerusalem, said Herzog.
“The president pointed to biased and false reports in the Arabic-language media, and gave as an example the dissemination of fake and outdated videos to encourage incitement, leading to terrorism,” the statement said.
Herzog stressed the importance of collaboration in the war on terror everywhere.
On Friday, Erdoğan called his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi, saying “The Islamic world should be united against Israel’s attacks in Palestine,” according to reports.
His call followed Israeli efforts to quell rioting in the Al-Aqsa Mosque last week. On Wednesday, Israeli police arrested more than 350 Muslim who had barricaded themselves inside the mosque. The rioters threw stones and launched fireworks at police.
Police attempted to convince the rioters to leave the site peaceably and when that failed were forced to enter the compound.
Following the removal of the rioters, Israeli forces left the area. The mosque was also cleaned, as the rioters had “vandalized, defiled and desecrated it,” police said.
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