Israel's far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's far-right national security minister, led a group of his supporters in prayer Tuesday at a holy site in Jerusalem that is revered by both Jews and Muslims, violating a historical political arrangement and drawing condemnation in Israel and from around the globe.
Ben-Gvir was seen in videos online singing songs at the holy site, the Temple Mount, where two ancient Jewish temples were located. The site is known to Muslims as the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and the place from which the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.
The long-standing agreement governing the site is that Jews may visit but not pray there, and much of the international community does not recognize Israel's claim to east Jerusalem, where the site stands. "Our policy is to allow prayer," Ben-Gvir said in a video he posted.
The purpose of the visit was also political. In the video, Ben-Gvir added that Israel must win the war in the Gaza Strip rather than attend meetings in Egypt and Qatar -- a reference to cease-fire negotiations set to take place Thursday. "This is the message: We can defeat Hamas and bring it to its knees," he said.
Ben-Gvir and a crowd estimated at about 2,000 inflamed tensions with leaders worldwide and in Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel assailed Ben-Gvir on Tuesday, in the latest sign of friction between members of the country's fragile governing coalition.
"It is the government and the prime minister who determine policy on the Temple Mount," Netanyahu's office said in a statement, noting that there was no "individual policy" for any minister and that Ben-Gvir's decision represented "a deviation from the status quo."
The actions were taken worldwide as a provocation, particularly given that diplomats have been scrambling to calm tensions in the Middle East and hoping that a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas would prevent further escalation of the conflict following the assassinations last month of a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and a Hamas leader in Iran.
Israel has claimed responsibility for the death in Lebanon and is widely believed to have been behind the one in Iran. Both Iran and Hezbollah have vowed to retaliate.
In a briefing with reporters Tuesday, US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel called Ben-Gvir's actions "unacceptable" and noted that the move "detracts" from efforts to reach a cease-fire agreement "at a vital time."
Qatar, which has been among the nations mediating the negotiations between Israel and Hamas, condemned the prayers at the holy site as an attack "on millions of Muslims around the world." It warned in a statement from its Foreign Ministry on Tuesday that the move could negatively affect the cease-fire talks.
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry also issued a statement condemning Ben-Gvir's decision. It called the move "a provocation to the feelings of Muslims around the world, especially in light of the continuing war and acts of violence against defenseless Palestinians."
Josep Borrell, the European Union's high commissioner for foreign affairs, also issued a statement "strongly" criticizing "the provocations" by Ben-Gvir. And France's Foreign Ministry decried Ben-Gvir's defiance of a "long-standing ban on Jewish prayer at the Al-Aqsa Mosque," urging Israel to respect the status quo. "This new provocation is unacceptable," the French ministry said.
For years, the Israeli government has quietly allowed Jews to pray at the site, but in videos from the scene Tuesday, dozens of Jewish visitors are seen fully prostrating themselves in prayer. Some religious officials inside Israel expressed alarm at the flagrant violation.
Moshe Gafni, chair of the religious party United Torah Judaism, said Ben-Gvir was damaging the Jewish people and defying the dictates of generations of Israel's chief rabbis. Michael Malchieli, Israel's religious affairs minister and a member of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, said Ben-Gvir's actions were an "unnecessary and irresponsible provocation against the nations of the world."
Ben-Gvir, a settler whose government responsibilities include oversight of the police, has not been circumspect about his expansionist aims or his opposition to a Palestinian state. He strongly opposes a cease-fire with Hamas, and his decision to lead a group to the sensitive site for prayers just as negotiations were set to resume underscored disagreements within Israel over the wisdom of striking a deal and halting the war in Gaza.
There are about 115 hostages -- dead and living -- believed to still be held in Gaza. Relatives of the hostages Tuesday accused Ben-Gvir of repeatedly trying to thwart a cease-fire deal, saying he was endangering the chances of bringing their captive family members home.