Right-wing police minister provoked on the Temple Mount
The Temple Mount is Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site. Jews are allowed to visit it under an agreement with Muslim authorities, but not to pray there. Israel's far-right police minister, Ben-Gvir, wants to change that and stirred up controversy with his statements during a visit to the site.
Israel's right-wing extremist police minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has once again provoked with a visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where he called for allowing Jewish prayer. In a video recorded on-site and published on X, Ben-Gvir also reiterated his opposition to negotiations with Hamas over a ceasefire in the Gaza war and the release of Israeli hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. He vowed to "defeat Hamas".
Around 2,250 Jews "prayed, danced, and waved Israeli flags" on the Temple Mount on Monday morning, according to the Jordanian Waqf, which administers the site. The Israeli police imposed restrictions and only allowed in "some Muslim worshipers," an official who wished to remain anonymous said.
Tisha Beav, a day of mourning for the destruction of the Jewish Temple by the Romans in 70 AD, is commemorated by Jews. The Temple Mount (Al-Haram al-Sharif), with the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem, is the third holiest site in Islam and the epicenter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is under Muslim administration, while Israel is responsible for security.
"No private politics of any minister"
However, the site is also holy to Jews, as two Jewish temples once stood there. Although they can enter under a status quo arrangement made after Israel's 1967 occupation of East Jerusalem, they are not officially allowed to pray there - a restriction that right-wing Israelis often defy.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said after Ben-Gvir's visit that Israel's policy on the Temple Mount had not changed. Ben-Gvir's action on the Temple Mount was an exception to the status quo, which would not be changed. There would be "no private politics of any minister on the Temple Mount - neither the interior minister nor any other minister," it said. Israeli media published footage showing dozens of Jewish worshipers praying during the minister's visit.
Praying with over 1,600 Jews
Ben-Gvir has previously criticized the agreement with Muslim authorities as "racist" and discriminatory against Jews. Palestinians fear that Israel wants to expand its control over the holy site.
According to Israeli media, more than 1,600 Jews visited the Temple Mount on Monday morning. The Palestinian Authority condemned this. Opposition leader Yair Lapid criticized Ben-Gvir's "campaign on the Temple Mount," which he said contradicted the position of Israel's security forces and endangered lives. He described it as "a group of irresponsible extremists within the government."
Opponent of hostage deal
Ben-Gvir had already published a provocative video in July showing him visiting the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. "I have come to the most important place for the Jewish people to pray for the hostages to return home, but not through a surrender agreement," Ben-Gvir said in the video, which shows him standing near the Dome of the Rock.
Ben-Gvir is a staunch opponent of a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas, which launched a major attack on Israel on October 7, sparking the Gaza Strip war. Recently, he has repeatedly threatened Prime Minister Netanyahu with coalition collapse if the latter makes concessions to Hamas.
The Palestinian territories, specifically the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, is a site of significant religious and political controversy. Despite the agreement with Muslim authorities, Israel's right-wing Minister Ben-Gvir has called for allowing Jewish prayer on the site.
