Ben Gvir visits Temple Mount to mark Tisha B’Av

3 August 2025, 9:17 am

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National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visits the Temple Mount for Tisha B’Av, the Jewish fast day marking the destruction of both Jewish Temples in Jerusalem in ancient times, which were located at the site.

The Temple Mount 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 the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam.

Ben Gvir has repeatedly stated that his policy is to allow Jewish prayer there — an act forbidden under the longtime status quo at the flashpoint site — 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’s visits also draw condemnation from the Islamic world, as well as from ultra-Orthodox lawmakers, who consider setting foot on the site of the destroyed temples to be a violation of Jewish law.