Ben-Gvir atop Temple Mount: My policy is to allow Jewish prayer

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 pilgrims prostrated themselves in prayer, in violation of the status quo that forbids Jews from praying on the Temple Mount.

Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee member Amit Halevi of the Likud Party also visited the site.

Following Ben-Gvir’s visit and remarks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office released a statement emphasizing 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 40 Israelis who visited the site after waving Israeli flags, kneeling or lying on the ground. Twenty-nine of them were warned and 11 were detained for investigation, according to Kan News. Some of the visitors sang Israel’s national anthem.

No security incidents were reported.

A spokesman for Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas described Ben-Gvir’s ascent as a “provocation” and warned of violent consequences.

“We demand that the U.S. administration intervene immediately to force the occupation government to stop these provocations against the holy religious sites, preserve the historical and legal status in the city of Jerusalem, and stop the aggression against Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, and the attacks in the West Bank [Judea and Samaria] if it wants to prevent the region from exploding in an uncontrollable manner,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also criticized the visit, saying that “there is a fireman sitting in the Israeli government who is trying to set fire to the Middle East. He opposes any negotiations, to bring him into the War Cabinet—this will allow him to realize his plans,” he said, apparently referring to Ben-Gvir.

MK Moshe Gafni, head of the United Torah Judaism Party, said, “The damage [Ben-Gvir] 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.”

The Chief Rabbinate of Israel has upheld a Halakhic (Jewish legal) prohibition on Jews visiting and praying at the Temple Mount.

“The elders of the generation and the Chief Rabbinate Council of Israel have already enumerated and decreed and agreed with all force to erect a fence and warn with a stern warning that no one should enter the Temple Mount area,” said Interior Minister Moshe Arbel of the Shas Party.

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.

In June, Ben-Gvir 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.

The status quo against Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount was never ratified in legislation. There are various references to it over the years by all branches of government, but not in a way that grants it an independent legal status.

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.

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 dedicated to strengthening the Jewish connection to the site.