Amid terror, tensions, Ben Gvir aims to visit Temple Mount on Thursday
Police chief yet to decide whether to allow far-right MK into holy site, with situational assessment to be held
Amid terror attacks and heightened tensions, far-right MK Itamar Ben Gvir has said he is intending to visit Jerusalem’s Temple Mount on Thursday.
While there is currently no intention by officials to prevent the visit, a situational assessment will take place Wednesday on the matter, according to media reports Monday evening.
The final decision rests with Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai, who, after reports emerged of Ben Gvir’s intended visit, received calls from various politicians to prevent it.
In a statement responding to the reports, Ben Gvir said, “Just as I visit the Temple Mount at the beginning of every [Hebrew] month, I intend to do so this coming Thursday.”
Ben Gvir then lashed out at Shabtai, calling him a “failure,” and Public Security Minister Omer Barlev, whom he called a “leftist,” saying he hopes both “have no intention to disrupt the status quo on the Temple Mount and lead to an escalation.”
“An attempt to prevent an Israeli lawmaker from visiting the site will send a message of capitulation to terrorism and only further stoke the flames,” he charged.
The Religious Zionism lawmaker’s intended visit comes amid heightened tensions following a slew of deadly terror attacks over the past days, the upcoming Land Day on March 30, and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan next week.
Land Day marks a 1976 decision by the Israeli government to seize thousands of dunams of Arab-owned land in the Galilee region of northern Israel.
In 2018 on Land Day — March 30 — Palestinians in the Gaza Strip launched the “Great March of Return,” a series of weekly protests and riots along the security fence.
Israel maintained that Hamas appropriated the campaign for nefarious purposes, using the civilian protesters as cover for violent military activities.
Current intelligence indicates that while the recent deadly terrorist attacks were carried out in Beersheba (last Tuesday) and Hadera (on Sunday), Jerusalem is still a main point of friction, where future terror attacks are more likely to take place.
Channel 12 reported that Shabtai, who has already ordered the call-up of six reserve companies of the Border Police to help try to thwart any further upsurge in terrorism and violence, also is proposing to recruit another 500 police volunteers — all with operational backgrounds.
Earlier Sunday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett ordered that the presence of security forces be bolstered immediately, with a focus on areas where there is a threat of violence. The ramp-up will remain in place until Independence Day, which this year begins on the evening of May 4.
Approaching the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, police have said they will not be easing security restrictions in the capital, though in the past, they have allowed larger gatherings than usual at Damascus Gate in honor of the holy month.
The intention is to call up the volunteers for a week of service, in order to boost police presence in city centers across the country, both as a defensive measure and to increase citizens’ sense of security.
Last spring saw events in Jerusalem surrounding the Temple Mount and looming evictions of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood snowball into an 11-day war between Israel and terror groups in the Gaza Strip.
Fearing a recurrence of that May 2021 violence, the Biden administration has urged Israel to take preemptive actions in order to prevent a similar eruption in April, which will see a confluence of the Jewish holiday of Passover, Ramadan, and the Christian holiday of Easter.
The Times of Israel Community.