Fifteen rabbis have asked the Israeli government on Thursday to ascend the Temple Mount and al-Haram al-Sharif next Wednesday, when the Jewish holiday of Passover begins, a move that could exacerbate tensions in Jerusalem during the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan. 

The rabbis have put a request to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Thursday to ascend to the Temple Mount and for Jews to be allowed to offer the Passover, the way it was practiced in biblical times.

Over the years, a majority of rabbis has ruled that Jews are not allowed to ascend the Temple Mount site, since purification rituals cannot be performed in times when the temple is destroyed. Most rabbis also object to reviving biblical sacrifices of lambs or goats. Still, far-right religious activists have registered a clear trend in recent years of an increase in the number of Jews ascending the Temple Mount compound.

The request by the rabbis to enable Passover sacrifice is not new. Temple Mount activists have been making similar demands frequently in recent years, mostly ahead of the major Jewish traditional holidays. Israeli police is monitoring for such attempts regularly. Ten people were detained by police in 2016, on their way to offer the Passover sacrifice on the Temple Mount. A well-known far-right activist who purchased a young goat was arrested last year for intending to take it to the site as a Passover sacrifice.