Middle East Monitor / July 24, 2024
Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has called for “Israel’s return to the Temple Mount”, vowing to remove prohibitions against Jewish prayer in Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem.
Speaking at the Israeli Knesset this week, Ben-Gvir stated that the “Temple Mount is undergoing change. We all understand what I am talking about.”
Referring to his storming of Al-Aqsa compound – the third most important Islamic holy site in the world – last week with the backing of Israeli security forces, the minister said: “What needs to be said quietly will be done quietly. I was on the Temple Mount. I prayed on the Temple Mount.”
Ben-Gvir challenged the longtime status quo in Jerusalem that Al Aqsa Mosque and its compound is limited to Muslim worship, a stance officially upheld – although often violated – by the Israeli government. “They always tell me ‘political leadership’ is against it. I am the political leadership. And the political leadership allows Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount,” the extremist minister asserted.
He further claimed that the status quo and similar restrictions represent areas “where Jews are discriminated against. This is racism. There is no reason for the Temple Mount not to be open 24/7, for Jews to not be allowed to come on Shabbat [Sabbath]. All areas of The Temple Mount should be open to Jews to come.”
Following Ben-Gvir’s inflammatory comments, a flurry of criticism emerged from Israeli political figures and lawmakers, with Likud MK Moshe Gafni saying that Jewish prayer at the Al-Aqsa compound is a “severe violation” of Jewish law, and demanded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “not allow the status quo to change.”
Benny Gantz, the former war cabinet minister and an MK for the National Unity Party, stated that, “in the same way that Ben-Gvir didn’t make decisions on Muslims visiting the Temple Mount during Ramadan, he’s not making decisions today.” He also called for Ben-Gvir “to be stripped of all his authorities relating to sensitive security issues.”
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Israeli Defence minister accuses Ben-Gvir of trying to ‘blow up’ Middle East over Al-Aqsa status quo
Middle East Monitor / July 24, 2024
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant accused far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Wednesday of trying to blow up the Middle East by changing the status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.
Ben-Gvir said early Wednesday that he gave his permission for illegal Jewish settlers to pray at the flashpoint site.
“Itamar Ben-Gvir is constantly trying to blow up the Middle East,” Gallant said on X.
“I categorically reject any ideas of hurting the Status Quo in the holy city of Jerusalem,” he added.
Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque “has not changed and will not change,” after Ben-Gvir urged Jews to pray “publicly” at the complex.
The status quo allows Muslims to worship at Al-Aqsa complex and followers of other religions to visit the site.
Ben-Gvir, leader of the far-right Jewish Power Party, is responsible for the police, who are tasked with preventing Jews from performing Talmudic rituals during their incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque.
For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents Islam’s third-holiest site. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.
