The front page of the Yated Ne’eman (Hebrew for loyal stake) newspaper, associated with the Degel Hatorah faction led by MK Moshe Gafni, was dedicated on Wednesday morning to a strong attack against the National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
The article was published following the controversial incident where Ben-Gvir visited Temple Mount on Tisha B’Av. The main headline of the article read, “Temple Mount desecrators endanger Jewish lives,” and included a call from “rabbis and public figures” to reconsider the coalition partnership with Otzma Yehudit, which is led by the minister, similar to a statement issued by MK Gafni on Tuesday.
In an editorial, the newspaper wrote, “Urgently, padlocks for the Temple Mount.” The author, Israel Friedman, compared Jewish visits to the Temple Mount to “throwing a match into an oil well,” warning that the Temple Mount could become a volcano that would cover the entire Middle East with its ash and smoke.
The article also criticized Ben-Gvir, stating, “Whether he is a minister or not, we cannot allow any fringe figure to endanger us all. This is not a game of ‘cops and robbers’; it is about human lives and severe prohibitions.”
Ultra-Orthodox parties demand Netanyahu act
The ultra-Orthodox opposition to visiting the Temple Mount stems from a halachic prohibition upheld by most rabbis, both present and past.
The newspaper also suggested that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of Ben-Gvir could lead to increased bloodshed in the region. Rather than taking definitive action against this “reckless behavior,” he only criticized coalition members, particularly Ben-Gvir’s group, for such conduct.
The newspaper hinted that the prime minister’s relative silence and inaction are problematic. The MKs from Degel Hatorah stated, “We will turn to the Torah sages for their ruling.”
The ultra-Orthodox parties’ strong stance against Ben-Gvir aims to signal to the Prime Minister that they are losing patience with Ben-Gvir’s behavior, both in the government and the Knesset.
They expect Netanyahu to take more decisive action against him, especially since senior figures in the ultra-Orthodox parties have conveyed these messages to Netanyahu several times during recent closed-door discussions.
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