National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ascended the Temple Mount on Monday morning as part of a Jerusalem Day ceremony, in violation of the long-standing status quo held on the holy site.
The Otzma Yehudit chairman was joined by fellow faction members, including Yitzhak Wasserlauf, the Development of the Negev and Galilee and National Resilience minister, and MK Yitzhak Kreuzer.
In a speech given during his visit to the holy site, which is the holiest in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam, Ben-Gvir said he was “praying for victory in the Israel-Hamas War, the return of all hostages being held in Gaza, and the success of incoming Shin Bet chief David Zini.”
The visit drew the ire of the Jordanian Foreign Ministry, which accused Ben-Gvir of “storming al-Aqsa Mosque…along with a large group of extremist settlers, coinciding with the so-called flag march.”
The ascent “constitutes a flagrant violation of the historical and legal status quo and Israel’s obligations as the occupying power,” Amman’s foreign ministry added.
The Hamas terror organization also denounced Ben-Gvir’s ascent to the Temple Mount as a “flagrant violation of the sanctity and status of Al-Aqsa for the entire Islamic community, and a desperate attempt by the occupation to enforce the complete Judaization of the Mosque.”
Hamas warned against “the escalation of such intrusions and Talmudic rituals,” adding that they “affirm that our Palestinian people will continue their steadfastness and defense of Al-Aqsa Mosque and will not allow the Zionist schemes for its division or Judaization to pass.”
Hamas called upon the “masses of our people in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the Occupied Territories to defend Al-Aqsa Mosque, the site of our Prophet Muhammad’s Night Journey, intensify their presence in the Mosque, and confront the settlers’ intrusions and rampages.
“We also urge the free people of our Arab and Islamic nation to uphold their responsibilities toward protecting the holy Mosque, support the resilience of our people in Jerusalem who face displacement attempts, and work to stop the occupation’s aggression against our people and holy sites,” Hamas added.
Ben-Gvir’s violation of Temple Mount status quo draws ire
Ben-Gvir, who had visited the Temple Mount regularly since the government’s formation in 2022 and the Hamas invasion and massacre on October 7, 2023, had previously drawn rebuke from members of his own coalition, chiefly members of the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) factions United Torah Judaism (UTJ) and Shas.
During his last ascent to the Mount in April, MK Moshe Gafni condemned the national security minister’s visit, stating that he was “violating and desecrating sacred ground.”
Gafni continued, stating that it constituted “a violation of the sanctity of the holiest place for the Jewish people and of the status quo, which all the great rabbis of Israel and the chief rabbis throughout the generations have opposed regarding Jews ascending the site.”
Last year, Ben-Gvir’s to the Mount on Tisha Be’Av caused a public clash with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the national security minister attempted to assert that the status quo which has governed the site since 1967, under which Jews can visit but not pray there, no longer exists.
“Our policy is to allow prayer” on the Temple Mount, Ben-Gvir said, before the Prime Minister’s Office issued a harsh message asserting that the status quo on the Temple Mount had not changed and that the morning’s event at the site “deviated from the status quo.” It also clarified that policy decisions regarding the site were under the sole purview of the government and the prime minister.
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