From the Liveblog of
Sunday, April 12, 2026
Ben Gvir prays at Temple Mount in apparent violation of status quo, footage shows
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National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir prayed this morning at the Temple Mount, a regular flashpoint between Israeli forces and Palestinians, footage published by Arabic media shows. The minister does not immediately comment.
The mount in Jerusalem’s Old City is the site of Islam’s third-holiest site, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and is where the two Jewish temples of antiquity stood.
Israel conquered the Old City, including the Temple Mount, in the Six Day War of June 1967.
Under a longstanding status quo, Jews may visit but not pray at the compound, which is administered by the Jordanian Waqf, or Muslim religious endowments authority.
Ben Gvir has long called for Jewish prayer rights at the site, and his previous visits have drawn sharp condemnation across the Arab world, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that the status quo with the Jordanian Waqf remains unchanged.
اقتحم وزير الأمن القومي الإسرائيلي، المتطرف إيتمار بن غفير، المسجد الأقصى برفقة مجموعة من المستوطنين، وأدّوا طقوسًا تلمودية داخل باحاته pic.twitter.com/5TtAmZVYTw
— موقع عرب 48 (@arab48website) April 12, 2026
Stav Levaton contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.