Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Tuesday visited the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where he said his policy was to allow Jewish prayer at Judaism's holiest site.
"We are here on Tisha B'Av, at the Temple Mount, to commemorate the destruction of the Holy Temple. As I said—our policy is to allow prayer," he said.
The minister added that he had visited the Temple Mount to pray for "the return of the hostages, the peace of the soldiers and victory in the war."
Fellow Otzma Yehudit Party member and Development of the Periphery, the Negev and the Galilee Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf joined Ben-Gvir, along with hundreds of other Jewish worshippers. Dozens of Jews came to pray, in violation of the Old City’s Status Quo, a centuries old agreement between religious groups that forbids Jews from praying on the Temple Mount.
Following Ben-Gvir's visit and remarks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office released a statement emphasising that "it is the government and the prime minister who determine policy on the Temple Mount. There is no private policy of any minister—not the national security minister or any other minister—on the Temple Mount. Thus it has been under all governments of Israel."
The statement continued: "This morning's incident on the Temple Mount deviated from the Status Quo. Israel's policy on the Temple Mount has not changed; this is how it has been and this is how it will be."
Police detained several Israelis who visited the site after waving Israeli flags, kneeling or lying on the ground and singing Israel's national anthem.
MK Moshe Gafni, head of the United Torah Judaism Party, harshly criticized Ben-Gvir, saying, "The damage he is causing to the Jewish people is unbearably great, and this adds to the gratuitous hatred on the day of the destruction of the Temple." He added that UTJ "will have to check ... if we can be partners with him, and we will make this clear to the prime minister as well."
Opposition leader and Yesh Atid Party head Yair Lapid also slammed the visit.
"Ben-Gvir's election campaign on the Temple Mount, in complete opposition to the position of the security forces, during a war, endangers the lives of Israeli citizens and the lives of our soldiers and policemen," he said.
"The group of irresponsible extremists in the government is trying hard to drag Israel into an all-out regional war. These people cannot run a country," he added.
This was not the first time Ben-Gvir has caused controversy regarding the Temple Mount.
In June, he said he intends to allow all Jews to openly pray at Judaism’s holiest site, changing the Status Quo that has existed there since 1967.
In response to that statement, the Israel Police declared that Jewish prayer remains prohibited on the Temple Mount. The PMO also disavowed Ben-Gvir’s words, stating that “Israel’s policy of maintaining the Status Quo on the Temple Mount has not changed and will not change.”
Since the beginning of the Hebrew year, nearly 48,000 Jews have visited the Temple Mount, according to data compiled by Beyadenu, an Israeli NGO.
