Very little goodwill and tolerance remains in Israeli-Palestinian relations, and therefore, prohibiting access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount to male Muslim worshipers under the age of 45 is perceived as an obvious security measure. However, the desire to protect Israeli citizens is not a convincing reason when it comes to the month of Ramadan, during which the security establishment should deploy more forces and permit freedom of worship to everyone.

This Friday, the most important worship of the holiday will take place in anticipation of the end of the fast next week. A decision could be taken to set aside the blanket prohibition against the entry of men under 45, allocate more personnel to security, and enable anyone who wants to pray in the place that is so sacred to Muslims to do so. The effort would demonstrate that the security restrictions are not malicious, that Israel is willing to enable freedom of worship at least on the most important day of worship if not all year round, and that it is willing to spend the money and allocate the manpower to do it.

For decades, Israeli public relations rightfully protested against Jordan when it barred Jews from the Western Wall, in blatant violation of the 1949 armistice agreement guaranteeing freedom of worship at Judaism's holiest site. In 1967, Israel passed, with great fanfare, the Protection of Holy Places Law. It prohibits - again, rightfully so - "anything likely to violate the freedom of access of the members of the different religions to the places sacred to them or their feelings with regard to those places."

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The Knesset reiterated that commitment in the Basic Law on Jerusalem, the Capital of Israel, which was passed in 1980. Until the early 1990s, Palestinian access to the Temple Mount was unrestricted. During the 1991 Gulf War, worshipers rioted at Al-Aqsa, leading to a change in policy that imposed restrictions in keeping with the Shin Bet's assessment of the threat level.

For a short period after the Oslo Accords were signed, freedom to worship at Al-Aqsa was given to Gaza Strip residents as well. Special convoys were escorted to Jerusalem every Friday, returning as soon as prayer services concluded. This ended soon after it began out of fear that many Palestinians would remain in Israel. West Bank residents continued to pray at Al-Aqsa until the suicide bombings began in Israel. Their places were taken up by Israeli Arab worshipers, thousands of whom come to the Temple Mount every Friday as part of the growth of the Islamic Movement in Israel. Residents of the territories remained outside, coming to Jerusalem only during the occasional loosening of restrictions such as during this week, when unrestricted access to the Temple Mount was granted to men aged 45 and up and to women.

Muslim tradition assigns special significance to praying at the religion's holy sites. Beyond the fact that discriminating among the worshipers is a violation of religious freedom, there is the issue of prudence. There is no reason to provoke hatred when it is possible to loosen restrictions, even if that means reallocating personnel. The daily lives of the Palestinians under the regime of roadblocks and closures are intolerably difficult, and it is only right to ease up at least on their holiday.