Ben Gvir visits Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, drawing criticism from Haredi leader

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visits Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, after a nearly two-week period of Ramadan during which access to the contested holy site was closed to Jews.

Ben Gvir’s visit elicits criticism within the coalition, as it has in the past. Tagging Ben Gvir in a tweet, ultra-Orthodox MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) writes that the visit is “an attack on the sanctity of the holiest place for the Jewish people and on the status quo” agreed upon by leading religious scholars.

Haredim believe it is forbidden to tread in the holy site due to its sanctity.

Ben Gvir’s visit “does not demonstrate sovereignty; on the contrary, it constitutes desecration of holiness and causes unnecessary incitement in the Muslim world,” he tweets, appealing to the minister to “stop ascending the Temple Mount.”

Ben Gvir has publicized multiple visits to the Temple Mount since taking office in December 2022.

The Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City is the holiest place in Judaism, as the site of the two biblical temples. Known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, it is home to Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam. Changes to the status quo on the Temple Mount evoke strong emotions and are frequently cited as a Muslim motivation for religious violence.

Jews are not officially allowed to pray at the Temple Mount, but the Israel Police, which comes under the purview of Ben Gvir’s ministry, has increasingly tolerated limited prayer there. Ben Gvir has said repeatedly that his policy is to allow Jewish prayer there, drawing rebukes from US and international officials, as well as warnings from the security establishment that renewed conflict over the site could pose a risk to national security.

The far-right minister has also rebuffed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s repeated insistence that the decades-old status quo remains in force.