After more than a decade of guiding Jewish visitors around the Temple Mount, Meir and Anya Antopolsky have noticed subtle changes to the Jerusalem holy site over the years. Anya has been documenting those changes in a diary that till now has never been published. The Press Service of Israel is publishing for the first time excerpts from her diary ahead of Jerusalem Day.

The Temple Mount, where the First and Second Jewish Temples were built, is the holiest site in Judaism. The status quo governing the holy site goes back to 1967 when Israel liberated the Old City of Jerusalem from Jordan during the Six-Day War. Fearing a religious war, then-defense minister Moshe Dayan agreed to let the Islamic Waqf, a Muslim trusteeship, continue managing the holy site’s day-to-day affairs, while Israel would maintain overall sovereignty and be responsible for security. The Waqf is overseen by the Jordanian monarchy.

According to the status quo, while non-Muslims are allowed to visit the Temple Mount, they are not allowed to pray there.