Jews praying on Temple Mount on Tisha B’Av is ‘tremendous progress,’ Ben-Gvir says

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the Temple Mount on Thursday morning in honor of Tisha B’Av, saying that the dozens of Jewish visitors present at the scene signify “tremendous progress.”

“Look at what is happening here—Jews praying and feeling that they are the ones in charge here. This has never happened before. And the same is happening in more and more places. We have reduced terrorist attacks by 85%. Everywhere, people understand that the State of Israel is in charge. There is still more to do, and, God willing, we will continue to make progress,” Ben-Gvir said in Hebrew footage posted on his X account.

Tisha B’Av is the Jewish people’s annual day of mourning for the destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E. and the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 C.E., along with other tragedies in Jewish history.

Dozens of Jews were seen praying in the plaza on the Temple Mount on Thursday morning, in a video shared online by the Israeli NGO “Beyadenu—Returning to the Temple Mount,” an organization dedicated to Jewish prayer rights and increased access to the Jewish people’s holiest site.

The Israel Police told public broadcaster Kan that the prayer service was held at a location included in the authorized visiting route, and that officers are seen in the footage instructing the worshippers to continue and move forward.

The status quo on the Temple Mount, as formulated by then-Defense Minister Moshe Dayan following the compound’s liberation during the 1967 Six-Day War, has generally barred Jews from bringing religious items such as prayer books and tefillin, or phylacteries, to the site.

Dayan offered the Jordanian Waqf Islamic trust control of activities on the Mount, while Israel would be responsible for the security and public order. Dayan further conceded that Muslims would be granted free access to the Mount, and that while there would be no cap on the number of Jewish visitors, they would not be allowed to pray there.

However, earlier this year, the Israel Police decided to allow Jewish visitors to carry prayer leaflets.

The use of these “guidance sheets” will remain restricted to “specific areas defined by the police” so as to maintain “the existing order” on the Mount, a police spokesman told JNS in January.