Ben-Gvir: ‘We are the masters of the Temple Mount’

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, while visiting the Temple Mount on Monday during Sukkot, declared that despite the “enormous pain” brought on by the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, there is much to celebrate since that tragic event.

“Hamas wanted to defeat us. They called it [the Hamas invasion] the ‘Al-Aqsa Flood,’” Ben-Gvir said. “But today, we are the masters of the house on the Temple Mount.”

(Al-Aqsa is an Arabic term for the Temple Mount.)

Ben-Gvir also said Israel is “the master of the house in the prisons,” referring to tougher restrictions he placed on the living arrangements of security prisoners in 2023. He reduced shower times, closed prison bakeries and banned family visits. His separate ban on visits by Knesset members to prisoners was overturned by Israel’s Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, in April 2026. “We turned their terrorists’ lives into hell,” he said.

The minister also spoke of his effort to loosen licensing laws to increase the number of guns in civilian hands. He expanded the number of localities where residents are eligible for gun licenses from six in 2021 to 126 in 2026. “We handed out weapons and set up rapid-response squads,” he said. “Three years later, the people of Israel are heading toward total victory.”

Ben-Gvir concluded, “And on this holiday, I am praying here on the Temple Mount, in the most important place, for total victory, for complete redemption, for death to all the terrorists, and for sovereignty here in the most important place for the Jewish people. They wanted to win. We defeated them, first and foremost here on the Temple Mount.”

Also on Monday, tens of thousands of worshippers gathered at the Western Wall in Jerusalem for the Sukkot Birkat Kohanim ceremony, with Ben-Gvir, Defense Minister Israel Katz, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion and former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman among those in attendance.

The ceremony was held as part of the scheduled Chol Hamoed Sukkot prayers at the site.

Katz, who participated in the blessing as a kohen, said he offered a prayer for the safety of IDF soldiers, security personnel and all Israeli citizens. “May the Lord bless you and protect you,” he said.

Friedman, also a kohen, i.e. of direct patrilineal descent from the biblical Aaron, marking what he said was his 10th consecutive year participating in the ceremony, described this year’s turnout as “the largest in history” and adding: “Israel is back!”

Meanwhile, Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s office announced on Monday that the head of state and the first lady will host the public in their traditional open sukkah at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

The Sukkot event will kick off at 9:30 a.m. and is being held with the Culture and Sport Ministry. This year’s theme is “The Israeli Spirit: A Journey Through Culture and Sport Toward a Shared Israeli Tomorrow.”

The president and first lady will come out periodically to greet visitors. Herzog will also tour the sukkah at 8:45 a.m.