A right-wing Jewish activist was shot and seriously injured in a suspected assassination attempt in Jerusalem on Wednesday night, according to local news reports.

A controversial figure, Rabbi Yehuda Glick has long advocated for Jews to be allowed to pray at a Jerusalem holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. The site is Judaism’s holiest place and Islam’s third-holiest. The golden Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa mosque stand there.

Glick spoke Wednesday night at an event called “Israel Returns to the Temple Mount,” according to the Jerusalem Post. He was outside the event venue afterward when a helmeted motorcyclist rode up, verbally identified him as Glick, fired three shots and rode away, Israeli lawmaker Moshe Feiglin said on Facebook. Feiglin had also spoken at the event, reports said.

The U.S.-born Glick was undergoing surgery to treat injuries to his chest and abdomen and was in serious but stable condition, according to Haaretz.


Israeli police said on Twitter that a motorcyclist shot an approximately 50-year-old man at the event venue and escaped. The Los Angeles Times could not reach police or hospital spokespeople for further comment.

In recent months, Palestinians throwing stones and Israeli police have clashed at the holy site “over what Palestinians see as Jewish encroachment” there, the Associated Press said. “Israel maintains that it allows free prayer to all, but Palestinians claim Israel is unilaterally widening access to accommodate larger numbers of Jewish worshippers.”

Wednesday’s shooting could exacerbate tensions. Feiglin, a far-right politician, had said on Facebook that the proper response would be to immediately “open” the holy site to Jews, and he called on supporters to join him there in the morning.

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