Israel’s Ben-Gvir calls for Al-Aqsa to be ‘open 24/7’ for Jewish prayer

Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has called for “Israel’s return to the Temple Mount”, vowing to remove prohibitions against Jewish prayer in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem.

Speaking at the Israeli Knesset this week, Ben-Gvir stated that the “Temple Mount is undergoing change. We all understand what I am talking about.” Referring to his storming of the Al-Aqsa compound – the third most important Islamic holy site in the world – last week with the backing of Israeli security forces, the minister said: “What needs to be said quietly will be done quietly. I was on the Temple Mount. I prayed on the Temple Mount.”

Ben-Gvir challenged the longtime status quo in Jerusalem that Al Aqsa Mosque and its compound is limited to Muslim worship, a stance officially upheld – although often violated – by the Israeli government. “They always tell me ‘political leadership’ is against it. I am the political leadership. And the political leadership allows Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount,” the extremist minister asserted.

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He further claimed that the status quo and similar restrictions represent areas “where Jews are discriminated against. This is racism. There is no reason for the Temple Mount not to be open 24/7, for Jews to not be allowed to come on Shabbat [Sabbath]. All areas of The Temple Mount should be open to Jews to come.”

Following Ben-Gvir’s inflammatory comments, a flurry of criticism emerged from Israeli political figures and lawmakers, with Likud MK Moshe Gafni saying that Jewish prayer at the Al-Aqsa compound is a “severe violation” of Jewish law, and demanded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “not allow the status quo to change.”

Benny Gantz, the former war cabinet minister and an MK for the National Unity Party, stated that, “in the same way that Ben-Gvir didn’t make decisions on Muslims visiting the Temple Mount during Ramadan, he’s not making decisions today.” He also called for Ben-Gvir “to be stripped of all his authorities relating to sensitive security issues.”