Degel Hatorah coalition faction mouthpiece pans Ben Gvir for Temple Mount visit
Yated Neeman calls move ‘futile and great folly,’ says it helps provoke Palestinian terror; publications aligned with Agudat Israel less critical but note halachic ban on visits
A Haredi newspaper affiliated with the coalition’s Degel Hatorah faction — part of the United Torah Judaism party — published a biting condemnation Wednesday of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem the day before, calling it folly that endangers Jewish lives by provoking Palestinian terrorism.
A frontpage editorial in Yated Neeman bore the headline “Provocation on the Temple Mount, world condemnation blitz,” a reference to furor ignited abroad as well as criticism at home of Ben Gvir’s visit to the flashpoint holy site in the Old City.
The Chief Rabbinate’s official position is that the Temple Mount is too holy for Jews to set foot on, a stance widely shared by Haredi spiritual leaders though many rabbis in the national-religious community support visits to certain parts of the site.
Ben Gvir, accompanied by an entourage and the police protection that accompanies Jewish visitors, spent 15 minutes walking around the Temple Mount early Tuesday morning. While the far-right lawmaker has visited the site in the past, this was his first time as a minister.
Yated Neeman wrote that Ben Gvir’s trip was an “unnecessary and dangerous provocation” and said those who ascend the Temple Mount “unnecessarily endanger the lives of Jews.”
“What value does a ‘victory lap’ of a few minutes in front of the cameras have — apart from the hope of a media gain?” it chided.
“These are futile acts full of folly,” it said. “Inappropriate displays like this endanger Jewish lives and play into the hands of the inciters in the mosque minarets.”
It said the “murderous ideologues” of the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic terror groups exploit such “futile and foolish actions” to convince the Palestinian masses that the Jews are planning to remove the Al-Aqsa mosque from the Temple Mount — a move that is not supported by mainstream Israeli society — which would prompt violent acts of revenge.
A rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel on Tuesday night, the military said, after retaliation threats over Ben Gvir’s Temple Mount visit from the Hamas terror group.
Yated Neeman also highlighted the “serious prohibition” on ascending the Temple Mount. According to many ultra-Orthodox rabbis halacha, or Jewish law, prohibits visiting the site due to its status as the holiest place in Judaism.
Degel Hatorah and its partner Agudat Israel make up the United Torah Judaism party, a member of the newly formed hardline government.
The Hamevaser newspaper, affiliated with Agudat Yisrael, was less critical, reporting the outrage provoked by Ben Gvir’s visit without passing judgment. Another publication also aligned with Agudat Yisrael, Hamodia, likewise reported on the visit without criticism.
Both publications did, however, note the halachic prohibition on ascending the mount.
Later Wednesday, the leader of Degel Hatorah leader, Knesset Finance Committee chair MK Moshe Gafni, opened a meeting of that forum by castigating Ben Gvir for entering the Temple Mount compound. Though Gafni stressed the religious prohibitions due to the sanctity of the site, he also criticized Ben Gvir for making what he said was an unnecessary visit that caused international condemnation.
For a public leader such as the minister to make such a trip is “wrong,” Gafni said.
“Nothing is gained from this, just taunting the whole world,” he said.
He also asserted that refraining from visiting the Temple Mount does not mean relinquishing the Jewish right to the site.
“The fact that you don’t go up – that doesn’t mean it’s not mine, on the contrary, it’s the Holy of Holies,” he said referring to the most sacred part of the ancient Jewish Temple, traditionally believed to have been situated where the Dome of the Rock now stands.
Ben Gvir’s far-right religious nationalist Otzma Yehudit party is otherwise largely aligned with UTJ on many policy issues.
Ben Gvir’s visit also drew condemnation from Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, a key figure linked to the coalition’s Shas party.
“As a minister representing the government of Israel, you should be acting according to Chief Rabbinate instructions, which have long forbidden visiting the Temple Mount,” Yosef wrote in a letter to Ben Gvir.
Yosef called on Ben Gvir to stop doing so “in order not to mislead the public.”
Ben Gvir has long been an advocate for formally altering the Temple Mount status quo, in which Muslims are allowed to pray and enter with few restrictions, while Jews can visit only during limited time slots via a single gate and walk on a predetermined route, closely accompanied by police. Ben Gvir’s ministry oversees the police force.
Jews are not allowed to pray at the site or to bring in any religious items or Israeli flags, though recent years have increasingly seen police allow some silent prayer.
The US was among the countries that decried his visit, along with Arab and Muslim countries with which Israel has ties, including Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Turkey.
The Temple Mount is revered by Jews as the historic location of the two Jewish Temples, making it Judaism’s holiest site. It is also the third-holiest for Muslims, who refer to it as the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound or the Noble Sanctuary.
Alleged provocations and violence at the site have frequently turned into wider conflagrations.
