Thousands come to the Western Wall every day to touch the ancient stones that have absorbed prayers for millennia. Look around and you’ll see men wrapped in prayer shawls swaying in devotion, families gathered to celebrate bar mitzvahs, and mothers whispering psalms for the safety of their brave sons and daughters serving in the IDF.

Though Israel has controlled Jerusalem since 1967, strict limitations remain on Jewish prayer atop the Temple Mount. Now, a growing coalition of officials seeks American support to challenge decades of delicate compromise.

On Wednesday, two government ministers and nearly a dozen sitting Members of Knesset issued a joint letter to the U.S. Congress urging American lawmakers to formally recognize Israel’s historic connection to and sovereignty over Judaism’s holiest site.On Wednesday, two government ministers and nearly a dozen sitting Members of Knesset issued a joint letter to the U.S. Congress urging American lawmakers to formally recognize Israel’s historic connection to and sovereignty over Judaism’s holiest site.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar, both from Likud, gave the effort cabinet-level backing. Eleven current MKs added their signatures, including members from Likud, Religious Zionist Party, and Otzma Yehudit, alongside former lawmakers Moshe Feiglin and Yehudah Glick.

“This is the place where our Temples stood, destroyed by the Babylonian and Roman empires approximately 2,500 and 1,900 years ago,” the signatories wrote, appealing directly to Congress. “While the sovereign State of Israel guarantees access to holy sites for all religions, the Jewish people themselves are denied full and unrestricted access to their holiest site due to immense international pressure.”

“Official recognition from the world’s leading nation and Israel’s greatest ally—the United States—will help neutralize these pressures and ensure historical justice.”

Spearheaded by advocacy groups Beyadenu For The Temple Mount and Shofar in Zion, the initiative has been months in the making. Activists have held discussions with members of both chambers of Congress, with additional meetings scheduled next week.

“With Trump’s return, we can correct the international narrative on the Temple Mount and rectify the grave injustice done to the Jewish people,” said Yosef Rabin, Chairman of Shofar in Zion. “The denial of our religious and national rights to the site must end. This is a modern-day Cyrus moment—we must declare loudly: there is no Zionism without Mount Zion.”

Tom Nissani, CEO of Beyadenu For The Temple Mount, expressed similar confidence in the campaign’s potential.

“This letter calls for a natural and just recognition of the Jewish people’s exclusive right to their holiest site,” he said. “I am grateful to the ministers and MKs who joined this important cause, and I believe it will resonate internationally. The American administration supports full Israeli sovereignty over the Temple Mount.”