Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Wednesday (April 20) ordered police forces to ban a controversial far-right lawmaker from approaching a Muslim area of Jerusalem’s Old City to prevent further violence.
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On Friday and Sunday, more than 170 were injured in clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police on the Esplanade of the Mosques, Islam’s third holiest site and Judaism’s holiest site, as celebrations of the Muslim month of Ramadan and Passover coincide, the Jewish one passover.
“Based on the recommendations of the Homeland Security Minister and security officials, the Prime Minister has decided to prevent MP Itamar Ben Gvir’s arrival at the Damascus Gate.”
State Press Release.
Israeli ultra-nationalist organizations planned a march in Jerusalem’s Old City, where the Esplanade is located, at the end of the day on Wednesday, despite a police ban. Far-right MP Itamar Ben Gvir, a member of the opposition and known for his inflammatory statements about the Palestinians, announced his intention to take part in the march, which must pass through the Damascus Gate, the main entrance to the Muslim Quarter of the Old City.
Protection of “life” in “danger”
“Based on the recommendations of the Homeland Security Minister and security officials, the Prime Minister has decided to prevent MP Itamar Ben Gvir’s arrival at the Damascus Gate,” Naftali Bennett’s office said in a statement. “I have no intention of allowing petty politics to put lives at risk,” the prime minister said. “I will not allow Ben Gvir’s political provocation to endanger the Israeli soldiers and police and further burden their mission.”
The right demands a compromise
Naftali Bennett’s coalition government has been weakened by recent violence in Jerusalem, particularly on the Mosque Esplanade, and attacks in Israel. The Arab Raam Party, the first in history to support an Israeli government, ended its support for the coalition on Sunday over the violence.
For their part, right-wing MPs within the coalition are under pressure to let go of a government that some in the opposition say is too favorable to the Arab minority. “Bennett, coalition security is not state security,” Itamar Ben Gvir responded to Twitter on Wednesday afternoon, threatening to go to the Damascus Gate if police “didn’t compromise” on the route of the controversial march.
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Last year, Islamist Hamas fired volleys of rockets into Israeli territory as a march attended by ultra-nationalist organizations was about to begin in Jerusalem’s Old City.
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