During the past few years the Islamic WAQF – the Muslim organization placed in charge of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem following the Six Day War – has been engaged in a campaign to destroy all evidence of the historical Jewish connection to the Temple Mount, where the First and Second Jewish Temples stood. In recent months the WAQF has dramatically escalated this campaign. Under the guise of carrying out "renovations", the WAQF has brought bulldozers and heavy digging equipment onto the Temple Mount and is now systematically demolishing the unique Jewish artifacts and structures located on the Temple Mount, including the relics of the First and Second Temples. The WAQF falsely claims that the Temple Mount has always been Islamic – not Jewish – and intends to continue its campaign of destruction until all traces of the Jewish presence on the Temple Mount are eliminated.

The Israeli government has consistently refused to undertake any actions to stop the criminal destruction of the Temple Mount by the WAQF. Hamstrung by international opinion and fearful of jeopardizing its relations with Muslim states, Israel allows the WAQF a free hand to eliminate the remnants of the First and Second Temples. The WAQF understands, far better than the Israeli government, that the current battle over the Temple Mount is the battle for the future control of Jerusalem.

Shurat HaDin – Israel Law Center and a group of 160 Israeli citizens representing a broad cross-section of the Israeli public have initiated an unprecedented criminal prosecution of the WAQF and its top officials, in the Jerusalem Magistrates Court. The criminal indictment of the WAQF is the first of its kind in Israeli history and utilizes a seldom applied section of the criminal code. If convicted, the WAQF officials face years in prison.