Visiting the Temple Mount is a matter of dispute among the greatest Rabbis. The opinions range from forbidden, because it leads to bloodshed, or forbidden because we are ritually impure, or permitted if you know the Halachic preparations and the restrictive boundaries. There is also a Rabbinic view that it is important to visit in order to retain the Temple Mount for the Jewish People.

On June 10, 1967 just 3 days after Colonel Mordechai Gur had famously declared, "The Temple Mount is in our hands", Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi I. Y. Unterman ruled that Halacha prohibited Jews to visit the Temple Mount. Two weeks later, the leading Sefardi Halachic authority, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, stated that even flying over the Temple Mount was also forbidden.

On a similar note, the Religious Affairs Minister at that time, Rabbi Zerach Warhaftig, said that, according to Halacha, the Third Temple has to be built by G-d. "This idea makes me happy," he said, "because we can avoid a conflict with the Muslim religion."  

All Chief Rabbis since that time have all ruled the same, that it is prohibited by Halacha to visit the Temple Mount. Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov, leader of Jerusalem's Jewish Community in the 19th Century, also ruled in his book, Peat Hashulchan Ch. 2, to prohibit entrance to the Temple Mount. This opinion was also followed by Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Hacohen Kook and the Minchat Yitzchak, Ch. 5 and Tzitz Eliezer, Ch. 10.

However, does Halacha really forbid Jews to ascend the entire area of the Temple Mount, our holiest site? The most important source concerning this issue is found in the Mishnah (Kelim 1), "There are 10 degrees of sanctity. The Land of Israel is holier than any other land… The Temple Mount … The Court of the Women… The Court of the Israelites is still more sanctified…"

According to the Rambam in Hilchot Beit Habechirah Ch. 6, the original sanctity that King Solomon bestowed on the First Temple was sanctified for its time and for eternity. Thus many halachic authorities have ruled on the basis of the Rambam that it is still prohibited for a Jew to enter the Temple Mount today. In the words of the Rambam, (Hilchot Beit Habechirah 7), "…lest he wander into the forbidden areas of the Court of the Israelites, which is punishable by Karet even today. " This is because we are all ritually impure by being in contact with a dead body. We don't possess the Red Heifer ashes to remove the Tumat Met.

However, we know from many sources that Jews continued to enter and even pray on the Temple Mount between the 7th and 11th Centuries. The Rambam himself visited the Temple Mount on October 14, 1165. Rabbi Menachem Hameiri (1249-1315) testifies, "… and the custom is to enter the Temple Mount."

The Rambam has ruled that everyone, who has contracted ritual impurity from a corpse, is not forbidden to enter the entire Temple Mount area. However, they are forbidden to enter the Court of Women, and the penalty of Karet applies only to those who enter the Court of Israelites and beyond.

If we can define the sanctified section of the Temple itself on what is today called the Temple Mount, we will perhaps be able to determine where it is permissible to enter. Indeed, the RADVAZ, the Rebbe of the Ari, and at least 10 of our  contemporary Rabbis, including Rabbi Chaim Hirschenson, Rabbi Chaim David Halevi, Rabbi Shlomo Goren, Rabbi Yosef Kapach, Rav Dov Lior, Rabbi Nochum Rabinovitch and Rabbi Chaim Drukman have ruled that it is permissible to enter some parts of the Temple Mount after proper immersion in a Mikve.

The main sources for the boundaries of the Temple Mount during the Second Temple Period are the Mishna in Tractate Middot and Josephus.
There are contradictions between these sources, but there is general agreement among Rabbis and archaeologists regarding two basic points:

1. The Temple Mount today is much larger than the Temple Mount, described by Josephus and the Mishna. It is clear that the southern area, south of the Mughrabi Gate, and some of the area, north of the raised platform around the Dome of the Rock, were added by King Herod. Therefore, these areas are perhaps not included in the sanctified area of the Temple Mount, mentioned in the Mishna.
2. The Huge Rock beneath the Dome of the Rock is the Foundation Stone which was located under the Holy of Holies, or it is the foundation of the Outer Altar of the Temple.

Former Chief Rabbis, Avraham Shapira and Mordechai Eliyahu, have stated that anyone who ascends the Temple Mount is violating a prohibition whose punishment is Karet, because we don't know the exact boundaries of the Court of the Israelites.

Thus, we are left with a major Halachic dispute among the Rabbis regarding entering the Temple Mount. When Moshiach comes, Jews expect to pray together with Muslims on the Temple Mount. As G-d tells the prophet, "I will bring them to My Holy Mountain in Jerusalem and fill them with joy in My House of Prayer. I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices on My Altar, because My Temple will be called a House of Prayer for all nations. " (Isaiah 56:7).