JERUSALEM, Oct. 30-- A prominent far-right Jewish activist was critically shot late Wednesday evening after a political event advocating Jewish presence in Jerusalem's Temple Mount, a constant source of strife between Jews and Arabs.

Yehuda Glick, 49, executive director of the "Temple Institute" , a group that calls for allowing Jews to pray on Temple Mount and eventually desires to erect the third Jewish Temple, was shot as he was exiting the event, held at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem, by an unknown assailant riding a motorcycle who had then fled the scene.

Glick was hospitalized at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, where he is currently in critical condition.

It is still unknown whether the attack was nationalistically motivated or a criminal act. Witnesses told the Walla! news website that the assailant approached Glick, asking to verify his identity, and then shot him. They said they detected an Arab accent.

Police spokesperson Mickey Rosenfeld said on Wednesday evening that the police are investigating all possible leads about the incident, trying to track down the assailant. Roadblocks were erected at the scene following the shooting.

Although the background of the incident was not yet known, Jerusalem mayor Nir Barket, a known hawk who on Wednesday ordered to adopt a tougher stance in enforcing the law against rioters, believed it was a militant attack.

"This is a serious event which is the result of harsh incitement," Barket said late Wednesday when he arrived at the scene. "We must take firm action against any kind of incitement in Jerusalem. I am sure security forces will track down the perpetrator and bring him to justice," the Ynet news website quoted him as saying.

Glick is one of the prominent figures advocating Jews to access Temple Mount, a controversial topic nowadays as tensions escalate and riots are frequent in Jerusalem. In August, he was banned from Temple Mount after his constant attempts to pray at the site.

Temple Mount is holy to both Jews and Muslims. Jews are not allowed to pray at the Temple Mount, where the Dome of the Rock mosque is located, but can pray at the Western Wall at the foot of the mountain, believed to be the remains of the ancient second Jewish temple.

Jews and Arabs are locked in long-standing disputes over Temple Mount, with Palestinian and other Arab leaders accusing Israel of trying to Judaize the site, in addition to expanding settlements in east Jerusalem, which was annexed by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and is home to more than 300,000 Palestinians living in poor conditions.

There have also been heightened tensions in Jerusalem since June when Palestinian militants kidnapped and killed three Jewish teens near Hebron in the West Bank.

In early July, far-right extremists kidnapped and killed a 15-year-old Palestinian from east Jerusalem in a suspected revenge attack.

Since then sporadic tensions have erupted with east Jerusalem Palestinian residents hurling stones and firebombs at Israeli security forces, and Jewish extremists randomly attacking Arab bystanders in separate incidents.