Israel Far-Right Minister Visits Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound

Israel Far-Right Minister Visits Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound.

Israel’s extreme-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has visited the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, which has enraged Palestinians.

Al-Aqsa mosque is the third-holiest place in Islam and the most sacred site to Jews, who refer to the compound as the Temple Mount. The Al-Aqsa mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam, is also the most sacred site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount.

“Our government will not surrender to the threats of Hamas,” Ben-Gvir said in a statement published by his spokesman after the Palestinian armed group warned such a move was a “red line”.

“The Temple Mount is the most important place for the people of Israel, and we maintain the freedom of movement for Muslims and Christians, but Jews will also go up to the mount, and those who make threats must be dealt with — with an iron hand,” said Ben-Gvir.

Under a historical status quo, non-Muslims can visit the site at specific times but are not allowed to pray there. However, in recent years, a growing number of Jews, primarily Israeli nationalists, have covertly prayed on the compound, which is seen as a provocation by Palestinians.

Ben-Gvir’s visit comes days after he took office as national security minister, giving his decision to enter the highly sensitive site considerable weight.

Ben-Gvir has previously lobbied to allow Jewish prayer at the site, a move opposed by mainstream rabbinical authorities. His visit, the first since becoming a minister, has been condemned by Jordan and the Palestinian foreign ministry.

‘Provocative step’

Ben-Gvir has lobbied to overhaul the management of the site to allow Jewish prayer there, a move opposed by mainstream rabbinical authorities.

Waqf guards told AFP that Ben-Gvir was accompanied by units of the Israeli security forces, while a drone hovered above the holy site.

After he left the site on Tuesday morning, visitors arrived at the plaza and the situation remained quiet.

Jordan slammed the Israeli politician for “breaking into the blessed Al-Aqsa mosque and violating its sanctity.”

Foreign ministry spokesman Sinan Majali condemned it as a “provocative step” in a statement.

While Ben-Gvir has visited the compound numerous times since entering parliament in April 2021, his presence as a top minister is highly significant.

A controversial visit in 2000 by then-opposition leader Ariel Sharon was one of the main triggers for the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, which lasted until 2005.

The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned Ben-Gvir’s visit as an “unprecedented provocation and a serious threat to the arena of conflict”.

Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, last week warned such a step would be “a big red line and it will lead to an explosion”.

On Tuesday, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem deemed it a “crime” and vowed the site “will remain Palestinian, Arab, Islamic”.

‘Most irresponsible man’

Hamas rules the Gaza Strip and in May 2021 an 11-day war broke out in the territory between Palestinian militants and Israel, after the violence at the Al-Aqsa mosque.

Hundreds of Palestinians and dozens of Israeli police officers were wounded in the preceding clashes across east Jerusalem, initially sparked by restrictions on Palestinians gathering and possible evictions of residents.

During this period Ben-Gvir rallied his supporters at Israeli settler homes in east Jerusalem, which has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War.

For years seen as a fringe figure, the Jewish Power leader entered mainstream politics with the backing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israeli opposition chief Yair Lapid held Netanyahu responsible for Ben-Gvir’s controversial move.

“This is what happens when a weak prime minister is forced to entrust the most irresponsible man in the Middle East with the most explosive place in the Middle East,” he wrote on Twitter.

Ben-Gvir has advocated for Arab-Israelis deemed disloyal to the state to be expelled and for the annexation of the occupied West Bank.

Until a few years ago he had a portrait in his living room of Baruch Goldstein, who massacred 29 Palestinian worshippers at a Hebron mosque in 1994.

He launched his ministerial career on December 29, as part of Israel’s most right-wing government in history led by Netanyahu.

The premier made no mention of Ben-Gvir’s visit in his remarks Tuesday at the start of the new government’s first cabinet meeting.

Source | NDTV