Ultra-Orthodox Jew: “There was peace in Jerusalem under the Ottomans, that ended with Israel”

The Haredi Jew emphasized that during the Ottoman period, Jews and Palestinians lived together in peace:
“Our closest neighbors were Palestinians. We got along very well. We shared food, cooked together, and lived in harmony. What destroyed the peace here was only Zionism and its ideas,” he said.

He further argued that Zionist ideology, on which the State of Israel was founded, has attempted to uproot his own religious traditions. According to him, from the very beginning, Israel has demanded that Jews die in the army “for dirty ideas.”

On September 16, Netanyahu visited archaeological excavation tunnels near Al-Aqsa Mosque together with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

During his speech, Netanyahu claimed that the land of Palestine belongs to the Jewish people. He also referred to the Silwan Inscription—discovered in East Jerusalem during the Ottoman era and transferred to the Istanbul Archaeology Museum—saying that he had asked Türkiye to return it. However, he alleged that President Erdoğan and his voter base prevented this from happening.