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124-447: The Ir David Foundation has been criticized for its archaeological practices and real estate activities. Critics argue that the foundation's archaeological excavations are often carried out with a political agenda, aiming to assert Jewish historical claims over the area at the expense of Palestinian residents. Elad has also been accused of acquiring properties in Silwan, in some cases leading to

248-504: A 15-bedroom mansion, for £120 million. Mikhail Fridman restored Athlone House in London as a primary residence in 2016. Roman Abramovich bought the English football club Chelsea F.C. in 2003, spending record amounts on players' salaries. Alexander Mamut invested £100m to Waterstones bookstore chain after acquiring it in 2011 for £53m. According to its managing director James Daunt ,

372-898: A lasting peace agreement. A campaign against the eviction was launched by T'ruah (then known as Rabbis for Human Rights), and by the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement, and in the United Kingdom by the Jewish organization Yachad . In response to these campaigns the JNF delayed the eviction. Ir Amim and others petitioned the High Court in July 2010, to cancel an agreement between the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) and Elad because of secret transfer of authority to Elad, which would carry out

496-494: A leading Israeli specialist on the archeology of Jerusalem, Dr. Eilat Mazar , who in the past collaborated with the Elad foundation, wrote a letter protesting the foundation's lack commitment to "scientific archeological work". In particular she expressed concerns over their intention to demolish a wall in a subterranean trench called "Jeremiah's Pit," which she regards as part of a tourist gimmick. The Antiquities Authority replied that she

620-404: A lot of money on their own personal consumption." Lebedev has also described them as "a bunch of uncultured ignoramuses", saying "They don't read books. They don't have time. They don't go to [art] exhibitions. They think the only way to impress anyone is to buy a yacht." On 30 January 2018, the U.S. Treasury published a "list of oligarchs" as part of a document known as the " Putin list " which

744-457: A mathematician and former researcher, became the first well-known Russian business oligarch . Oligarchs became increasingly influential in Russian politics during Boris Yeltsin 's presidency (1991–1999); they helped finance his re-election in 1996 . Well-connected oligarchs like Roman Abramovich , Michail Khodorkovsky , Boris Berezovsky and Vladimir Potanin acquired key assets at a fraction of

868-460: A note: "this list includes businessmen of Russian citizenship who acquired the major share of their wealth privately, while not holding a governmental position". In 2005, the number of billionaires dropped to 30, mostly because of the Yukos case, with Khodorkovsky dropping from No. 1 (US$ 15.2 billion) to No. 21 (US$ 2.0 billion). A 2013 report by Credit Suisse found that 35% of the wealth of Russia

992-608: A period "when co-existence of regulated and quasi-market prices created huge opportunities for arbitrage ." The majority of oligarchs were promoted (at least initially) by the Soviet apparatchiks , with strong connections to Soviet power-structures and access to the funds of the Communist Party. Boris Berezovsky himself was Head of the Department of System Design at another Academy of Sciences research centre. His private company

1116-521: A political agenda. The Court ordered some changes and a new three-year contract was signed. Temple Mount The Temple Mount ( Hebrew : הַר הַבַּיִת , romanized:  Har haBayīt , lit.   'Temple Mount'), also known as The Noble Sanctuary ( Arabic : الحرم الشريف, 'Haram al-Sharif'), al-Aqsa Mosque compound , or simply al-Aqsa ( / æ l ˈ æ k s ə / ; The Furthest Mosque المسجد الأقصى , al-Masjid al-Aqṣā ), and sometimes as Jerusalem's holy esplanade ,

1240-623: A proposed contract to do this was annulled. However, in 2002 the contract was re-confirmed, this time without opposition from the IAA, and from that time the organisation has had responsibility for the preservation and maintenance of the City of David National Park. In 1999, unauthorized construction on the Temple Mount by the Waqf resulted in trucks fulls of dirt filled with archaeological artifacts being dumped. In 2005

1364-476: A short distance outside the city walls to a house in the area. With the outbreak of 1936 riots Jews were advised by the British authorities to leave the area since they could not guarantee their safety. The foundation was founded in 1986 by David Be'eri, a former deputy commander of Duvdevan Unit , with the intention to purchase the former Meyuchas family home and other properties in the city. In 1986 they were granted

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1488-639: A system based on universal values but rather the will to introduce a system of private ownership, which, in the absence of law, opened the way for the criminal pursuit of money and power". The 1998 Russian financial crisis hit most oligarchs hard and those whose holdings were based mainly in banking lost much of their fortunes. The most influential oligarchs from the Yeltsin era include Roman Abramovich , Boris Berezovsky , Vladimir Gusinsky , Mikhail Khodorkovsky , Vladimir Potanin , Alexander Smolensky and Vladimir Vinogradov . They formed what became known as

1612-557: A system of crony capitalism with a system of state capitalism whereby the new oligarchs benefited from financing by state-owned banks and access to public procurement projects. An economic study distinguished 21 oligarchic groups as of 2003. Between 2000 and 2004, Putin apparently engaged in a power struggle with some oligarchs, reaching a "grand bargain" with them. This bargain allowed the oligarchs to maintain their powers, in exchange for their explicit support of – and alignment with – Putin's government. However, other analysts argue that

1736-668: Is a hill in the Old City of Jerusalem that has been venerated as a holy site for thousands of years, including in Judaism , Christianity and Islam . The present site is a flat plaza surrounded by retaining walls (including the Western Wall ), which were originally built by King Herod in the first century BCE for an expansion of the Second Jewish Temple . The plaza is dominated by two monumental structures originally built during

1860-662: Is already referred to as a distinct entity. In 2 Chronicles, Solomon's Temple was constructed on Mount Moriah (3:1), and Manasseh 's atonement for his sins is associated with the Mountain of the House of the Lord (33:15). The conception of the Temple as being located on a holy mountain possessing special qualities is found repeatedly in Psalms, with the surrounding area being considered an integral part of

1984-499: Is considered the third holiest site in Islam . According to Islamic tradition, the plaza is the location of Muhammad 's ascension to heaven from Jerusalem , and served as the first " qibla ", the direction Muslims turn towards when praying. As in Judaism, Muslims also associate the site with Abraham , and other prophets who are also venerated in Islam. Muslims view the site as being one of

2108-575: Is derived from the Quran 's Surah 17 ("The Night Journey") which writes that Muhammad travelled from Mecca to the mosque, from where he subsequently ascended to Heaven . Arabic and Persian writers such as 10th-century geographer Al-Maqdisi , 11th-century scholar Nasir Khusraw , 12th-century geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi and 15th-century Islamic scholar Mujir al-Din , as well as 19th century American and British Orientalists Edward Robinson , Guy Le Strange and Edward Henry Palmer explained that

2232-467: Is to 'Judaize' East Jerusalem". Under Israel's controversial Absentee Property Law , the state may reclaim homes whose owners were not present in 1967, when Israel took control of East Jerusalem. Morrison said that the expulsion of the Sumarin family was a violation of human rights, and part of the systematic transfer of Palestinian property to ideological settlers who wish to put facts on the ground that hinder

2356-514: The Semibankirschina (or "seven-banker outfit", compare Seven Boyars ), a group of businessmen with a great influence on Boris Yeltsin and his political environment. Together they controlled from 50% to 70% of all Russian finances between 1996 and 2000. Historian Edward L. Keenan has compared these oligarchs to the system of powerful boyars that emerged in late-medieval Muscovy . The Guardian reported in 2008 that " 'oligarchs' from

2480-638: The Binding of Isaac , Jacob's dream, and the prayer of Isaac and Rebekah . According to the Talmud, the Foundation Stone is the place from where the world was created and expanded into its current form. Orthodox Jewish tradition maintains it is here that the third and final Temple will be built when the Messiah comes. The Temple Mount is the place Jews turn towards during prayer. Jewish attitudes towards entering

2604-613: The Dome of the Rock , was the spot from where the world was created and expanded into its current form, and where God gathered the dust used to create the first human, Adam . Jewish texts predict that the Mount will be the site of a Third and final Temple , which will be rebuilt with the coming of the Messiah . The rebuilding of the Temple remained a recurring theme among generations, particularly in thrice daily Amidah (Standing prayer), central prayer of

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2728-597: The Encyclopaedia of Islam , the phrase was originally understood as a reference to a site in the heavens. A group of Islamic scholars understood the story of Muhammad's ascension from al-Aqsa Mosque as relating to the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem . Another group disagreed with this identification and preferred the meaning of the term as referring to heaven. Al-Bukhari and Al-Tabari , for example, are believed to have rejected

2852-653: The FinCEN Files that had been submitted to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network . In 1997, the organisation was sued by the Israeli state for damaging archaeological remains and for building on a historic site without a permit, and the Israel Antiquities Authority strongly recommended that the upkeep and control of the archaeological sites not be handed over to the organisation. In 1998

2976-579: The First Temple was built by King Solomon , the son of King David , in 957 BCE, and was destroyed by the Neo-Babylonian Empire , together with Jerusalem , in 587 BCE. No archaeological evidence has been found to verify the existence of the First Temple, and scientific excavations have been limited due to religious sensitivities. The Second Temple, constructed under Zerubbabel in 516 BCE,

3100-574: The Hebrew Bible indicate that during the time when they were written, the Temple Mount was identified as Mount Zion. The Mount Zion mentioned in the later parts of the Book of Isaiah (Isaiah 60:14), in the Book of Psalms , and the First Book of Maccabees ( c.  2nd century BCE ) seems to refer to the top of the hill, generally known as the Temple Mount. According to the Book of Samuel , Mount Zion

3224-514: The High Priest of Israel entered the sanctuary once per year on Yom Kippur , carrying the blood of a sacrificial lamb and burning incense . According to the Bible, the site functioned as the center of all national life – a governmental, judicial and religious center. The Genesis Rabba , which was probably written between 300 and 500 CE, states that this site is one of three about which the nations of

3348-641: The Jewish liturgy , which contains a plea for the building of a Third Temple and the restoration of sacrificial services . A number of vocal Jewish groups now advocate building the Third Temple without delay in order to bring to pass God's "end-time prophetic plans for Israel and the entire world." The Temple was of central importance in Jewish worship in the Tanakh ( Old Testament ). In the New Testament , Herod's Temple

3472-494: The Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in 638 CE, Caliph 'Omar ibn al Khatab , reportedly disgusted by the filth covering the site, had it thoroughly cleaned, and granted Jews access to the site. According to early Quranic interpreters and what is generally accepted as Islamic tradition, in 638 CE Umar, upon entering a conquered Jerusalem, consulted with Ka'ab al-Ahbar – a Jewish convert to Islam who came with him from Medina – as to where

3596-461: The Rashidun and early Umayyad caliphates after the city's capture in 637 CE: the main praying hall of al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock , near the center of the hill, which was completed in 692 CE, making it one of the oldest extant Islamic structures in the world. The Herodian walls and gates, with additions from the late Byzantine , early Muslim , Mamluk , and Ottoman periods, flank

3720-688: The Second Temple . During the Second Temple Period , Jerusalem was the center of religious and national life for Jews, including those in the Diaspora . The Second Temple is believed to have attracted tens and maybe hundreds of thousands during the Three Pilgrimage Festivals . The holiday of Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean revolt in

3844-601: The Six-Day War of 1967. Shortly after capturing the site, Israel handed its administration back to the Waqf under the Jordanian Hashemite custodianship , while maintaining Israeli security control. The Israeli government enforces a ban on prayer by non-Muslims as part of an arrangement usually referred to as the "status quo". The site remains a major focal point of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict . The name of

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3968-610: The United Nations , by its Secretary-General and by the UN's subsidiary organs. The Temple Mount forms the northern portion of a narrow spur of hill that slopes sharply downward from north to south. Rising above the Kidron Valley to the east and Tyropoeon Valley to the west, its peak reaches a height of 740 m (2,428 ft) above sea level. In around 19 BCE, Herod the Great extended

4092-490: The largest mosques in the world . For Sunni and Shia Muslims alike, it ranks as the third holiest site in Islam . The plaza includes the location regarded as where the Islamic prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven , and served as the first " qibla ", the direction Muslims turn towards when praying. As in Judaism, Muslims also associate the site with Solomon and other prophets who are also venerated in Islam. The site, and

4216-577: The twelve Israelite tribes , conquered Jerusalem and brought the Israelites ' central artifact, the Ark of the Covenant , into the city. When a great plague struck Israel, a destroying angel appeared on Araunah's threshing floor. The prophet Gad then suggested the area to David as a fitting place for the erection of an altar to Yawheh . David bought the property from Araunah, for fifty pieces of silver, and erected

4340-709: The "Noble Sanctuary". It mirrors the terminology of the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca ; This term elevated the compound to the status of Haram , which had previously been reserved for the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina . Other Islamic figures disputed the haram status of the site. Usage of the name Haram al-Sharif by local Palestinians has waned in recent decades, in favor of

4464-642: The 1990s via the Russian privatisation that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union . The failing Soviet state left the ownership of state assets contested, which allowed for informal deals with former USSR officials (mostly in Russia and Ukraine ) as a means to acquire state property. The Russian oligarchs emerged as business entrepreneurs under Mikhail Gorbachev ( General Secretary , 1985–1991) during his period of market liberalization. Boris Berezovsky ,

4588-623: The 2nd century BCE. During the first century BCE, the Temple was renovated by Herod . It was destroyed by the Roman Empire at the height of the First Jewish-Roman War in 70 CE. Tisha B'Av , an annual fast day in Judaism , marks the destruction of the First and Second Temples, which according to Jewish tradition, occurred on the same day on the Hebrew calendar . The Book of Isaiah foretells

4712-680: The Chain Street – a street in the Muslim Quarter at the level of the platform, actually sitting on a monumental bridge; the bridge is no longer externally visible due to the change in ground level, but it can be seen from beneath via the Western Wall Tunnel. In 1980, Jordan proposed that the Old City be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it was added to the List in 1981. In 1982, it

4836-507: The Christians considering it a fulfillment of Christ's prophecy at, for example, Matthew 23:38 and Matthew 24:2. It was to this end, proof of a biblical prophecy fulfilled and of Christianity's victory over Judaism with the New Covenant , that early Christian pilgrims also visited the site. Byzantine Christians, despite some signs of constructive work on the esplanade, generally neglected

4960-399: The Dome of the Rock was the site of Solomon's Temple , gave it the name " Templum Domini " and set up their headquarters in al-Aqsa Mosque adjacent to the Dome for much of the 12th century. In Christian art , the circumcision of Jesus was conventionally depicted as taking place at the Temple, even though European artists until recently had no way of knowing what the Temple looked like and

5084-446: The Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. This has been construed to mean that Jesus dispensed with physical location for worship, which was a matter rather of spirit and truth. Among both Sunni and Shia Muslims, the entire plaza, known as the al-Aqsa Mosque, also known as Haram al-Sharif or "the Noble Sanctuary",

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5208-406: The Gospels do not state that the event took place at the Temple. Though some Christians believe that the Temple will be reconstructed before, or concurrent with, the Second Coming of Jesus (also see dispensationalism ), pilgrimage to the Temple Mount is not viewed as important in the beliefs and worship of most Christians. The New Testament recounts a story of a Samaritan woman asking Jesus about

5332-408: The Ir David Foundation joined a Bar Ilan University and the National Parks Authority, Temple Mount Sifting Project , where volunteers and professionals recover these artifacts. Thousands of artifacts have been recovered including 5,000 ancient coins. In March 2017, the Temple Mount Sifting Project announced it stopped collaborating with the Ir David Foundation. The reason was not published. In 2011,

5456-413: The JNF's arm in the United States . Morrison resigned in protest at the decision by Himnuta, a subsidiary of JNF-KKL, to launch eviction proceedings against the Sumarin family, who lived in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem. In the case of the Sumarin family, the children of the original owner, Musa Sumarin, were declared absentees after his death even though there were other family members living in

5580-443: The Jordanian military periodical published since the early 1970s, and the associations of both the southern and northern branches of the Islamic Movement in Israel are all named Al-Aqsa after this site. During the period of Mamluk (1260–1517) and Ottoman rule (1517–1917), the wider compound began to also be popularly known as the Haram al-Sharif, or al-Ḥaram ash-Sharīf (Arabic: اَلْـحَـرَم الـشَّـرِيْـف ), which translates as

5704-413: The KGB. Examples are the director of the institute where Putin obtained a degree in 1996, Vladimir Litvinenko , and Putin's childhood friend and judo -teacher Arkady Rotenberg . Gennady Timchenko was close friends with Russian leader Vladimir Putin since the early 1980s. In 1991, Putin gave Timchenko an oil export license. These oligarchs worked in close cooperaton with the government, displacing

5828-442: The Mount's natural plateau by enclosing the area with four massive retaining walls and filling the voids. This artificial expansion resulted in a large flat expanse which today forms the eastern section of the Old City of Jerusalem . The trapezium shaped platform measures 488 m (1,601 ft) along the west, 470 m (1,540 ft) along the east, 315 m (1,033 ft) along the north and 280 m (920 ft) along

5952-402: The One Who took His servant ˹Muḥammad˺ by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque whose surroundings We have blessed, so that We may show him some of Our signs. Indeed, He alone is the All-Hearing, All-Seeing. The Qur'an does not mention the exact location of "the furthest place of prayer", and the city of Jerusalem is not mentioned by any of its names in the Qur'an. According to

6076-407: The Russian government and the invasion of Ukraine. On March 21, 2022, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project launched Russian Asset Tracker to showcase the profiles and assets of several Russian oligarchs. Several dozen business people with family connections to top politicians include President Putin’s younger daughter Katerina Tikhonova , who through her investment fund has been

6200-455: The Russian government as an adviser to the prime minister and a deputy minister of fuel and power while still running his business. Vladimir Vinogradov was the chief economist of Promstroybank , one of the six banks existing in the Soviet Union, previously serving as the secretary of Atommash plant Komsomol organisation. Economist Yegor Gaidar worked in a Soviet Academy of Sciences think tank modelled after RAND . Gaidar later became

6324-410: The Temple Mount area. The war between Seljuqs and Byzantine Empire and increasing Muslim violence against Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem instigated the Crusades . The Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099 and the Dome of the Rock was given to the Augustinians , who turned it into a church, and al-Aqsa Mosque became the royal palace of Baldwin I of Jerusalem in 1104. The Knights Templar , who believed

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6448-406: The Temple Mount, especially when a Jewish attempt to rebuild the Temple was destroyed by the earthquake of 363 . It became a desolate local rubbish dump, perhaps outside the city limits, as Christian worship in Jerusalem shifted to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre , and Jerusalem's centrality was replaced by Rome. During the Byzantine era, Jerusalem was primarily Christian and pilgrims came by

6572-398: The Temple in Jerusalem. Mujir al-Din , a 15th-century Jerusalemite chronicler, mentions an earlier tradition related by al-Wasti, according which "after David built many cities and the situation of the children of Israel was improved, he wanted to construct Bayt al-Maqdis and build a dome over the rock in the place that Allah sanctified in Aelia." According to the Qur'an , Muhammad

6696-412: The Temple itself. The governmental organization which administers the site, the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf (part of the Jordanian government), have stated that the name "The Temple Mount" is a "strange and alien name" and a "newly-created Judaization term". In 2014, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) issued a press release urging journalists not to use the term "Temple Mount" when referring to

6820-438: The Temple. In December 2008 excavations funded by the foundation found a large hoard of over 250 gold coins, dated to around the seventh century near the end of the Byzantine period. The foundation also funded excavation of a house the archaeologists suspect belonged to Helena of Adiabene , a fourth-century mansion, and an ancient water tunnel. Ir David purchases houses in Silwan and rents them to Jewish families. According to

6944-411: The addition of Japan, took unprecedented steps to sanction Putin and the oligarchs directly. In response to the sanctions , the targeted oligarchs started to hide wealth in an attempt to prevent the Western nations from freezing their assets. These sanctions intend to directly impact the Russian ruling class as a response for their perceived contribution and acquiescence to the war with Ukraine. Although

7068-409: The aftermath of the Babylonian conquest of Judah were eventually allowed to return following a proclamation by the Persian king Cyrus the Great that was issued after the fall of Babylon to the Achaemenid Empire . In 516 BCE, the returned Jewish population in Judah, under Persian provincial governance , rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem under the auspices of Zerubbabel , producing what is known as

7192-433: The altar. God answered his prayers and stopped the plague. David subsequently chose the site for a future temple to replace the Tabernacle and house the Ark of the Covenant; God forbade him from building it, however, because he had "shed much blood". The First Temple was instead constructed under David's son Solomon , who became an ambitious builder of public works in ancient Israel : Then Solomon began to build

7316-431: The appropriate place to worship, Jerusalem (as it was for the Jews) or Mount Gerizim (as it was for the Samaritans ), to which Jesus replies: Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship

7440-404: The archaeological excavations conducted in recent years in the City of David and the surrounding areas. All excavations are conducted by the Antiquities Authority, or with their approval. Among the many excavation sites the association found in 2005 the proposed Pool of Siloam 200 meters from another "Pool of Siloam" which was a fifth-century reconstruction and the road that connected the Spring to

7564-426: The area where the Holy of Holies stood, since, according to rabbinical law, there is still some aspect of the divine presence at the site. The Al-Aqsa mosque compound, atop the site, is the second oldest mosque in Islam , and one of the three Sacred Mosques, the holiest sites in Islam ; it is revered as "the Noble Sanctuary". Its courtyard ( sahn ) can host more than 400,000 worshippers, making it one of

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7688-407: The area, but the acquisition of houses is complex, since under Waqf law, Muslims are not permitted to sell their land to Jews, since according to Islamic jurisprudence the lands they dwell on belongs to Allah . Elad employs Muslim middle men as brokers to bypass the Waqf rules and to purchase the properties. In September 2014, Ir David Foundation aided residents moving into 25 apartments in Silwan,

7812-406: The authority to work on behalf of the Jewish National Fund to reclaim land in the area. For a long time, Elad refused to provide the names of its funders and when they did they requested successfully that the names be kept under privilege. In 2016, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz revealed that the organization received 450 million shekels (US$ 115 million) in donations between 2006 and 2013. Most of

7936-415: The best spot would be to build a mosque. Al-Ahbar suggested to him that it should be behind the Rock "... so that all of Jerusalem would be before you." Umar replied, "You correspond to Judaism!" Immediately after this conversation, Umar began to clean up the site – which was filled with trash and debris – with his cloak, and other Muslim followers imitated him until the site was clean. Umar then prayed at

8060-402: The body's experts access Jerusalem's holy sites to determine their conservation status". While the text acknowledged the "importance of the Old City of Jerusalem and its walls for the three monotheistic religions", it referred to the sacred hilltop compound in Jerusalem's Old City only by its Muslim name Al-Haram al-Sharif. In response, Israel denounced the UNESCO resolution for its omission of

8184-400: The concept of the Mount as a topographical feature separate from the Temple or the city itself first came into existence is a matter of debate among scholars. According to Eliav, it was during the first century CE, after the destruction of the Second Temple. Shahar and Shatzman reached different conclusions. In the Books of Chronicles , edited at the end of the Persian period , the mountain

8308-419: The earliest and most noteworthy places of worship of God . They preferred to use the esplanade as the heart for the Muslim quarter, since it had been abandoned by Christians, to avoid disturbing the Christian quarters of Jerusalem. Umayyad Caliphs commissioned the construction of al-Aqsa Mosque on the site, including the shrine known as the " Dome of the Rock ". The Dome was completed in 692 CE, making it one of

8432-422: The economics editor of the Kommunist journal, the official theoretical organ of the CC of the CPSU . He also held various positions, including Prime Minister in the Russian government during 1991–1992. Together with Anatoly Chubais , the two "Young Reformers" were chiefly responsible for privatization in the early 1990s. According to David Satter , "what drove the process was not the determination to create

8556-609: The era of former president Boris Yeltsin have been purged by the Kremlin". With the ascent of Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin the influence of the Yeltsin oligarchs dissipated, as some were imprisoned, such as Mikhail Khodorkovsky (pictured here) and Mikhael Mirilashvili , while others emigrated, sold off their assets or died under suspicious circumstances, such as Vladimir Vinogradov and Boris Berezovsky . A number of Yeltsin oligarchs first came under fire for alleged tax evasion . Vladimir Gusinsky of MediaMost and Boris Berezovsky both avoided legal proceedings by leaving Russia, and

8680-501: The eviction of Palestinian families. "Ir David", or the "City of David", is the name given to a site beyond the southern edge of Jerusalem's Temple Mount and Old City , with the Tyropoeon Valley on its west, the Hinnom valley to the south, and the Kidron Valley on the east. Modern Jewish settlement on the ridge in the City of David began in 1873–1874, when the Meyuchas family, a Jewish rabbinical and merchant family that had lived in Jerusalem since their expulsion from Spain, moved

8804-651: The flow of foreign capital into the United Kingdom, for example through the foreign investor visa routes , introduced during John Major 's premiership in 1994, one-fifth of whose recipients since 2008 are Russian citizens. A significant number of Russian oligarchs have bought homes in upmarket sections of London in the United Kingdom, which has been dubbed "Moscow on Thames" or "Londongrad". Some, such as Eugene Shvidler , Alexander Knaster , Konstantin Kagalovsky , David Wilkowske and Abram Reznikov, are expatriates , having taken permanent residency in London. Roman Abramovich bought 16 Kensington Palace Gardens in London,

8928-500: The foundation created a massive marketing campaign which led to a sharp increase in the number of visitors in recent years. In 2001 the foundation had only 25,000 visitors, but 250,000 in 2006 and 350,000 in 2007. In a program called "Ancient Jerusalem", they bring visitors to the three sites of Biblical Jerusalem, the City of David, Armon HaNetziv and the Mount of Olives . There were 450,000 visitors in 2011. Ir David Foundation funds most of

9052-575: The foundation of methodically attempting to "Judaicize" the City of David / Silwan area by enhancing Jewish claims and presence at the expense of local Palestinians. The foundation says its actions are legal under Israeli law. In December 2011, joint activities between the Elad Association and the Jewish National Fund in Israel (JNF-KKL) led to Seth Morrison's resignation from the board of JNF-USA,

9176-518: The foundation, some houses in Silwan were originally owned by Jews before the establishment of the state, representing the Jewish settlement of Kfar Shiloah, established for immigrants from Yemen in the late 19th century. As of 2009, 75 Jewish families live in properties owned by the Association. The Ir David foundation acquires property in the city of David and surroundings in one of four ways: The foundation endeavours to buy up property from Muslims in

9300-498: The globe". In 2022, many Russian oligarchs and their close family members were targeted and sanctioned by countries around the world as a rebuke of Russia's war in Ukraine . During Mikhail Gorbachev 's perestroika ( c.  1985 –1991), many businessmen in Russia imported goods such as personal computers and jeans into the country and sold them for a hefty profit. Once Boris Yeltsin became President of Russia in July 1991,

9424-473: The home at the time. In 1991, the Israeli government transferred the property to the JNF subsidiary. In a letter to The Jewish Daily Forward , Morrison said the action on the Sumarin home "is not an isolated case. JNF has gained ownership of other Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem and, in many instances, then transferred these properties through its subsidiaries to Elad, a settler organization whose purpose

9548-758: The house of the LORD at Jerusalem in Mount Moriah, where [the LORD] appeared unto David his father; for which provision had been made in the Place of David, in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. Solomon placed the Ark in the Holy of Holies – the windowless innermost sanctuary and most sacred area of the temple in which God's presence rested; entry into the Holy of Holies was heavily restricted, and only

9672-528: The identification with Jerusalem. Eventually, a consensus emerged around the identification of the "furthest place of prayer" with Jerusalem, and by implication the Temple Mount. Later hadiths referred to Jerusalem as the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque: Russian oligarch Russian oligarchs (Russian: олигархи , romanized : oligarkhi ) are business oligarchs of the former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth in

9796-635: The international importance of the Temple Mount: And it shall come to pass in the end of days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established as the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many peoples shall go and say: 'Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth

9920-416: The largest acquisition in the foundation's history. The apartments were spread over seven different buildings, which were purchased by Ir David Foundation through a US shadow organization. The largest single funder of the organization is Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and the companies he controls, which have donated $ 100 million. These donations came to light through a leak of bank documents known as

10044-459: The later books of the Hebrew Bible or in the New Testament . The term remained in use throughout the Second Temple period , although the term “Mount Zion”, which today refers to the eastern hill of ancient Jerusalem, was used more frequently. Both terms are in use in the Book of Maccabees . The term Har haBayīt is used throughout the Mishnah and later Talmudic texts. The exact moment when

10168-427: The law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. In Jewish tradition, the Temple Mount is also believed to be the location of Abraham's binding of Isaac . 2 Chronicles 3:1 refers to the Temple Mount in the time before the construction of the temple as Mount Moriah ( Hebrew : הַר הַמֹּורִיָּה , har ha-Môriyyā ). The " land of Moriah " ( אֶרֶץ הַמֹּרִיָּה , ereṣ ha-Môriyyā ) is the name given by Genesis to

10292-457: The location of the binding of Isaac. Since at least the first century CE, the two sites have been identified with one another in Judaism, this identification being subsequently perpetuated by Jewish and Christian tradition . Modern scholarship tends to regard them as distinct (see Moriah ). According to the rabbinic sages whose debates produced the Talmud , the Foundation Stone , which sits below

10416-405: The major Abrahamic religions : Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It has particular religious significance for Judaism and Islam. The Temple Mount is considered the holiest site in Judaism. According to Jewish tradition, both Temples stood at the Temple Mount. Jewish tradition further places the Temple Mount as the location for a number of important events which occurred in the Bible, including

10540-488: The money came via corporations in international tax havens whose owners could not be identified. About half of Elad's income between 2003 and 2018, amounting to 348 million shekels, came from four companies registered in the Virgin Islands . Documents in the leaked FinCEN Files revealed in 2020 that at least three of the four companies are owned by Russian–Israeli billionaire Roman Abramovich . To expand tourist activity,

10664-526: The most prominent, Mikhail Khodorkovsky of Yukos oil , was arrested in October 2003 and sentenced to 9 years. This was subsequently extended to 14 years, and after Putin pardoned him, he was released on 20 December 2013. A second wave of oligarchs emerged in the 2000s, friends and former colleagues of President Putin either from his years in the St Petersburg municipal administration or his Dresden tenure in

10788-545: The oldest extant Islamic structures in the world. The Al-Aqsa Mosque , sometimes known as the Qibli Mosque, rest on the far southern side of the Mount, facing Mecca . Early Islam regarded the Foundation Stone as the location of Solomon's Temple, and the first architectural initiatives on the Temple Mount sought to glorify Jerusalem by presenting Islam as a continuation of Judaism and Christianity. Almost immediately after

10912-527: The oligarchic structure has remained intact under Putin, with Putin devoting much of his time to mediating power-disputes between rival oligarchs. The ten most-prominent oligarchs of the early Putin era included Roman Abramovich , Oleg Deripaska , Mikhail Prokhorov , Alisher Usmanov , Viktor Vekselberg , Leonid Mikhelson , Arkady Rotenberg , Gennady Timchenko , Andrey Guryev and Vitaly Malkin . In 2004, five years after Putin's ascend to power, Forbes listed 36 billionaires of Russian citizenship, with

11036-407: The oligarchs emerged as well-connected entrepreneurs who started from nearly nothing and became rich through participation in the market via connections to the corrupt, but elected, government of Russia during the state's transition to a market-based economy . The so-called voucher privatization program of 1992–1994 enabled a handful of young men to become billionaires, specifically by arbitraging

11160-636: The oligarchs' wealth relates closely to the meltdown in Russia's stock market, as by 2008 the RTS Index had lost 71% of its value due to the capital flight after the Russo-Georgian War of August 2008. Billionaires in Russia were particularly hard-hit by lenders seeking repayment on balloon loans to shore up their own balance sheets. Many oligarchs took out generous loans from Russian banks, bought shares, and then took out more loans from western banks against

11284-589: The recipient of numerous large contracts from state-owned energy companies. Her former husband Kirill Shamalov runs the largest Russian petrochemicals company Sibur as well as his own investment fund. The son-in-law of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov runs an investment fund with assets exceeding $ 6 billion. Andrey Ryumin, the son-in-law of Viktor Medvedchuk , President Putin’s former closest ally in Ukraine, runs another investment fund with large agricultural holdings which have become recipients of state subsidies for import substitution (Rouhandeh 2022). Petr Fradkov ,

11408-642: The region. For example, the Al-Aqsa Intifada (the uprising of September 2000), the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades (a coalition of Palestinian nationalist militias in the West Bank), al-Aqsa TV (the official Hamas-run television channel), al-Aqsa University (Palestinian university established in 1991 in the Gaza Strip), Jund al-Aqsa (a Salafist jihadist organization that was active during the Syrian Civil War),

11532-417: The same places, sometimes under different names. The recognition, use of and respect for these names is paramount." The term Har haBayīt – commonly translated as "Temple Mount" in English – was first used in the books of Micah (4:1) and Jeremiah (26:18), literally as "Mount of the House", a literary variation of the longer phrase "Mountain of the House of the Lord". The abbreviation was not used again in

11656-498: The sanctions miss some of the richest oligarchs, the impact on the war is unknown due to Putin's power over those that were sanctioned. Since the invasion began, nine of the Russian oligarchs' yachts have turned their navigation transponders off as they sail to ports where they are less likely to be searched and seized. On March 2, 2022, the United States announced a special task force dubbed " Task Force KleptoCapture ". This team

11780-449: The site is disputed, primarily between Muslims and Jews, in the context of the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict . Some Arab-Muslim commentators and scholars attempt to deny Jewish connection with the Temple Mount , while some Jewish commentators and scholars attempt to belittle the importance of the site in Islam. During a 2016 dispute over the name of the site, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova stated: "Different peoples worship

11904-475: The site vary. Due to its extreme sanctity, many Jews will not walk on the Mount itself, to avoid unintentionally entering the area where the Holy of Holies stood, since, according to rabbinical law, there is still some aspect of the divine presence at the site. According to the Hebrew Bible , the Temple Mount was originally a threshing-floor owned by Araunah , a Jebusite . The Bible narrates how David united

12028-481: The site, which can be reached through eleven gates , ten reserved for Muslims and one for non-Muslims, with guard posts of the Israel Police in the vicinity of each. The courtyard is surrounded on the north and west by two Mamluk-era porticos ( riwaq ) and four minarets . The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism, and where two Jewish temples once stood. According to Jewish tradition and scripture,

12152-485: The site. In 2017, it was reported that Waqf officials harassed archeologists such as Gabriel Barkay and tour guides who used the term at the site. According to Jan Turek and John Carman, in modern usage, the term Temple Mount can potentially imply support for Israeli control of the site. 2 Chronicles 3:1 refers to the Temple Mount in the time before the construction of the temple as Mount Moriah ( Hebrew : הַר הַמֹּורִיָּה , har ha-Môriyyāh ). Several passages in

12276-620: The son of a former Prime Minister and head of the Russian foreign intelligence service, Sergei Sergeevich Ivanov, the son of the former head of the presidential administration Sergei Ivanov , and Andrey Patrushev, the son of the current head of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev have all joined the ranks of the oligarchs. The list of oligarchs and business executives who have risen to prominence and who have been sanctioned after Russia's invasion of Ukraine includes: The British Government policy encouraged

12400-409: The south, giving a total area of approximately 150,000 m (37 acres). The northern wall of the Mount, together with the northern section of the western wall, is hidden behind residential buildings. The southern section of the western flank is revealed and contains what is known as the Western Wall . The retaining walls on these two sides descend many meters below ground level. A northern portion of

12524-424: The southern end of the compound as a result of the Islamic qibla being moved from Jerusalem to Mecca. The two different Arabic terms, translated as "mosque" in English, parallel the two different Greek terms translated as "temple" in the New Testament : Greek : ίερόν , romanized :  hieron (equivalent to Masjid) and Greek : ναός , romanized :  naos (equivalent to Jami'a), and use of

12648-520: The spot where it was believed that Muhammad had prayed before his night journey, reciting the Quranic sura Sad . Thus, according to this tradition, Umar thereby reconsecrated the site as a mosque. Muslim interpretations of the Quran agree that the Mount is the site of the Temple originally built by Solomon , considered a prophet in Islam , that was later destroyed. After the construction, Muslims believe,

12772-546: The temple was used for the worship of the one God by many prophets of Islam, including Jesus. Other Muslim scholars have used the Torah (called Tawrat in Arabic) to expand on the details of the temple. The term Bayt al-Maqdis (or Bayt al-Muqaddas ), which frequently appears as a name of Jerusalem in early Islamic sources, is a cognate of the Hebrew term bēt ha-miqdāsh (בית המקדש),

12896-579: The tens of thousands to experience the places where Jesus walked. After the Persian invasion in 614 many churches were razed, and the site was turned into a dump. The Arabs conquered the city from the Byzantine Empire which had retaken it in 629. The Byzantine ban on the Jews was lifted and they were allowed to live inside the city and visit the places of worship. Christian pilgrims were able to come and experience

13020-645: The term "al-Aqsa", in relation to the whole plaza, is also a central identity symbol for Palestinians , including Palestinian Christians . Since the Crusades , the Muslim community of Jerusalem has managed the site through the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf . The site, along with the whole of East Jerusalem (which includes the Old City), was controlled by Jordan from 1948 until 1967 and has been occupied by Israel since

13144-694: The term "mosque" for the whole compound follows the usage of the same term for other early Islamic sites with large courtyards such as the Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo, the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus and the Great Mosque of Kairouan . Other sources and maps have used the term al-Masjid al-'Aqṣā to refer to the congregational mosque itself. The term "al-Aqsa" as a symbol and brand-name has become popular and prevalent in

13268-544: The term Masjid al-Aqsa refers to the entire esplanade plaza which is the subject of this article – the entire area including the Dome of the Rock , the fountains, the gates , and the four minarets – because none of these buildings existed at the time the Quran was written. Al-Jâmi' al-Aqṣá refers to the specific site of the silver-domed congregational mosque building, also referred to as Qibli Mosque or Qibli Chapel ( al-Jami' al-Aqsa or al-Qibli , or Masjid al-Jumah or al-Mughata ), in reference to its location on

13392-411: The traditional name of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Some scholars have used the terms Sacred Esplanade or Holy Esplanade as a "strictly neutral term" for the site. A notable example of this usage is the 2009 work Where Heaven and Earth Meet: Jerusalem's Sacred Esplanade , written as a joint undertaking by 21 Jewish, Muslim and Christian scholars. In recent years, the term "Holy Esplanade" has been used by

13516-523: The value at the loans for shares scheme auctions conducted in the run-up to the election. Defenders of the out-of-favor oligarchs argue that the companies they acquired were not highly valued at the time because they still ran on Soviet principles, with non-existent stock control , huge payrolls, no financial reporting and scant regard for profit. Since 2014, hundreds of Russian oligarchs and their companies have been hit with US sanctions for their support of "the Russian government's malign activity around

13640-507: The value of these shares. One of the first to get hit by the global downturn was Oleg Deripaska , Russia's richest man at the time, who had a net worth of US$ 28 billion in March 2008. As Deripaska borrowed money from western banks using shares in his companies as collateral, the collapse in share price forced him to sell holdings to satisfy the margin calls . After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , Canada, US, and European leaders with

13764-635: The vast difference between old domestic prices for Russian commodities (such as natural gas and oil) and the prices prevailing on the world market. These oligarchs became unpopular with the Russian public and are often blamed for the turmoil that plagued the Russian Federation following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Economists Sergei Guriev and Andrei Rachinsky contrast older oligarchs with nomenklatura ties and younger-generation entrepreneurs such as Kakha Bendukidze who built their wealth from scratch because Gorbachev's reforms affected

13888-571: The western wall may be seen from within the Western Wall Tunnel , which was excavated through buildings adjacent to the platform. On the southern and eastern sides, the walls are visible almost to their full height. The platform itself is separated from the rest of the Old City by the Tyropoeon Valley, though this once deep valley is now largely hidden beneath later deposits and is imperceptible in places. The platform can be reached via Gate of

14012-449: The words "Temple Mount" or "Har HaBayit", stating that it denied Jewish ties to the site. Israel froze all ties with UNESCO. In October 2017, Israel and the United States announced they would withdraw from UNESCO, citing anti-Israel bias. On 6 April 2022, UNESCO unanimously adopted a resolution reiterating all 21 previous resolutions concerned with Jerusalem. The Temple Mount has historical and religious significance for all three of

14136-527: The world cannot taunt Israel and say, "you have stolen them," since it was purchased "for its full price" by David. The First Temple was destroyed in 587/586 BCE by the Neo-Babylonian Empire under the second Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar II , who subsequently exiled the Judeans to Babylon following the fall of the Kingdom of Judah and its annexation as a Babylonian province . The Jews who had been deported in

14260-567: Was added to the List of World Heritage in Danger . On 26 October 2016, UNESCO passed the Occupied Palestine Resolution that condemned what it described as "escalating Israeli aggressions" and illegal measures against the waqf, called for the restoration of Muslim access and demanded that Israel respect the historical status quo and also criticized Israel for its continuous "refusal to let

14384-517: Was compiled under the requirement of the CAATSA Act. According to the document itself, its criterion for inclusion was simply being a Russian national with a net worth of over $ 1 billion. The list was criticised for being indiscriminate, and including critics of Putin. According to the financial news-agency Bloomberg L.P. , Russia's wealthiest 25 individuals have collectively lost US$ 230 billion (£146 billion) since July 2008. The fall in

14508-712: Was established by the Institute as a joint venture . Mikhail Khodorkovsky started his business importing computers under auspices of the Komsomol -authorised Center for Scientific and Technical Creativity of the Youth in 1986, briefly serving as a deputy secretary of the Komsomol for a district in Moscow in 1987. His move into banking two years later was funded with the support of Komsomol alumni working in Moscow city government. Later, he served in

14632-440: Was later renovated by King Herod and was ultimately destroyed by the Roman Empire in 70 CE. Orthodox Jewish tradition maintains it is here that the third and final Temple will be built when the Messiah comes. The Temple Mount is the place Jews turn towards during prayer. Jewish attitudes towards entering the site vary. Due to its extreme sanctity, many Jews will not walk on the Mount itself, to avoid unintentionally entering

14756-451: Was only trying to appropriate the site for herself. Elad countered that her contract forbids her from complaining about future excavations. Elad was blamed by Silwan residents when a channel dug for archaeological excavations partially collapsed in December 2011 near the village's mosque. The excavations were carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority and funded by Elad. Critics accuse

14880-400: Was owned by the wealthiest 110 individuals. Daniel Treisman proposed using a term "silovarch" ( silovik and oligarch) for a new class of Russian oligarchs with backgrounds in Russian military and intelligence. Billionaire and former KGB agent Alexander Lebedev has criticized these new oligarchs, saying "I think material wealth for them is a highly emotional and spiritual thing. They spend

15004-495: Was put together to specifically target oligarchs. It is made up of officials from the FBI , Marshals Service , IRS , Postal Inspection Service , Homeland Security Investigations and Secret Service . The main goal of the task force is to impose the sanctions set against these individuals to freeze and seize the assets that the US government claimed were proceeds of their illegal involvement with

15128-491: Was the site of several events in the life of Jesus , and Christian loyalty to the site as a focal point remained long after his death. After the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, which came to be regarded by early Christians, as it was by Josephus and the sages of the Jerusalem Talmud , to be a divine act of punishment for the sins of the Jewish people, the Temple Mount lost its significance for Christian worship with

15252-594: Was the site of the Jebusite fortress called the "stronghold of Zion", but once the First Temple was erected, according to the Bible, at the top of the Eastern Hill ("Temple Mount"), the name "Mount Zion" migrated there too. The name later migrated for a last time, this time to Jerusalem's Western Hill. The English term "al-Aqsa Mosque" is a translation of either al-Masjid al-'Aqṣā ( Arabic : ٱلْمَسْجِد ٱلْأَقْصَىٰ ) or al-Jâmi' al-Aqṣā ( Arabic : ٱلْـجَـامِـع الْأَقْـصّى ). Al-Masjid al-'Aqṣā – "the farthest mosque" –

15376-476: Was transported to a site named Al-Aqsa Mosque – "the furthest place of prayer" ( al-Masjid al-'Aqṣā ) during his Night Journey ( Isra and Mi'raj ). The Qur'an describes how Muhammad was taken by the miraculous steed Buraq from the Great Mosque of Mecca to al-Aqsa Mosque where he prayed. After Muhammad finished his prayers, the angel Jibril ( Gabriel ) traveled with him to heaven, where he met several other prophets and led them in prayer: Glory be to

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