Jews are allowed to pray and bow down at the Temple Mount, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced during a visit to the site on Monday in honor of Jerusalem Day.
The Prime Minister’s Office has denied similar statements made by Ben-Gvir in the past, since they indicate a change in the long-standing status quo at the site, according to which Jewish prayer is prohibited.
However, as of Monday afternoon, the PMO had yet to respond.
The Otzma Yehudit chairman was joined by fellow faction members, including Negev, Galilee, and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf and MK Yitzhak Kreuzer.
Religious Zionist Party MK Zvi Sukkot also visited the site and unfurled an Israeli flag.
In a speech given during his visit to the Temple Mount, 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 the 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.
Ben-Gvir, who has visited the Temple Mount regularly since the government’s formation in late 2022, had previously drawn rebuke from the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) factions United Torah Judaism (UTJ) and Shas over what they said was a violation of Jewish religious law.
Ben-Gvir's violation of Temple Mount status quo draws ire
UTJ MK Moshe Gafni, head of UTJ’s Degel Hatorah faction, issued such a rebuke on Monday as well.
“I condemn and denounce with all force the provocative ascent to the Temple Mount that includes a severe prohibition punishable by Karet [a Jew being cut off from the Holy Land or their people as punishment for their sin].”“This harms the Jewish people and holy sites, causing unpardonable damage. I call again on my colleagues in the Knesset: Stop going there,” Gafni said.
Hamas 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 as a desperate attempt by the occupation to enforce the complete Judaization of the mosque.”
Members of the terrorist group 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 the al-Aqsa Mosque and will not allow the Zionist schemes for its division or Judaization to pass.”
“We call 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,” Hamas continued.
“We also urge the free people of our Arab and Islamic nations 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,” it added.