Haredi Jews attack Ben-Gvir after entering Al-Aqsa Mosque

The United Torah Judaism political bloc within the coalition government in Israel attacked the Minister of National Security yesterday following his visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque. According to Yated Ne’eman, the mouthpiece of the Degel HaTorah party, one of the two that make up the bloc, Itamar Ben-Gvir’s move was “an unnecessary and dangerous provocation”.

The newspaper saw Ben-Gvir’s intrusion into Al-Aqsa Mosque as “a rejected act that poses a threat to the lives of Jews” and “a useless and foolish act in order to convince the Palestinian crowds that the Jews will move Al-Aqsa from its place and provoke them to carry out retaliatory operations.” However, the newspaper’s editorial was also critical of the Palestinians, claiming that they “incite through their mosque minarets.”

The newspaper asked: “Who allows these people, including Haredi faces, to needlessly pose a danger to the lives of Jews and go against Jewish law? And for what, they do not pretend that they will build the Temple, so what is the value of a victory lap for a few minutes in front of the cameras, other than the hope of reaping media gains?”

In the past, Yated Ne’eman criticised the extremist Jews who stormed into Al-Aqsa Mosque. Today it notes these intrusions take place “despite the strict prohibition by Jewish law, and contrary to the opinion of the chief rabbis and through a security risk. This is a provocation that has brought international condemnation.”

Yesterday, the Chief Sephardi Rabbi of Israel, Yitzhak Yosef, sent a letter of protest to Ben-Gvir, asking him to obey the instructions of the Chief Rabbinate and not to repeat his visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque. “I feel it is my duty to warn of the danger of the prohibition of ascending to Temple Mount [the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa], and to ask you, in the name of the Chief Rabbinate, to refrain in the future from ascending the Temple Mount, especially after your appointment as a minister in the State of Israel.” Rabbi Yosef added that although a few rabbis allowed Ben-Gvir to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque, “It is clear that as a minister in the Israeli government you should not act contrary to the instructions of the Chief Rabbinate. I hope that you will find a way to rectify this matter.”

However, it does not seem as if Ben-Gvir will refrain from such provocations. He responded to the newspaper’s editorial by tweeting that, “Yated is against a state for the Jewish people and they oppose secular [Jews] living here.”

The Israeli media quoted member Limor Son Har-Melech MK of Otzma Yehudit, the party headed by Ben-Gvir, as saying that the latter’s critics “are also confused, and have lost their way. If Ben-Gvir had listened to all the noise around him, we would not have had a state here.”

READ: Netanyahu defends Ben-Gvir’s visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque