HR Prompts The Times to Correct Western Wall Error

The Times of London (paywall) published an otherwise positive piece examining the significance of a Royal visit to Israel for British-Israeli relations. It included the following:

As we have pointed out on numerous occasions to mainstream media outlets (including The Times), in fact, the holiest site in the world for Jews is the Temple Mount, the location of the First and Second Jewish Temples.

For the last several hundred years, Jews have prayed at the Western Wall because it was the closest accessible place to Judaism’s holiest site and is the holiest site that Jews are allowed to pray. (It is forbidden for Jews to pray on the Temple Mount in order to maintain the delicate status quo on the site that is administered by the Muslim Waqf. This in addition to conflicting interpretations of Jewish law as to whether prayer is allowed there today.)

The error is important as it reinforces Palestinian efforts to delegitimize Jewish historical ties to the Temple Mount.

Following our request, The Times has corrected the error by removing the reference to “the holiest site in Judaism.”