Israel’s new Minister of National Security, extremist Itamar Ben Gvir, made a surprise visit to the esplanade of Jerusalem’s mosques on Tuesday morning for the first time since taking office last week. This act by Ben Gvir openly defies all warnings that his visit could increase tensions in the region. His passage through the holy place has been condemned by the Palestinian Authority, which considers him a “serious threat”, as well as by the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements, which have said they stand ready to defend him and the new Israelis have accused government of helping to aggravate the situation. The United States, France and several countries in the region including Jordan and Egypt have also denounced the events.
Considered the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam, the Esplanade of Mosques, which houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque, is located in the Old City of Jerusalem, which was captured by the Israelis in the 1967 war, although Israel is preparing stated that allowing Jordan to retain religious authority over the site has since allowed Jews to visit the site without praying, and the police are increasingly allowing some groups, mainly radicals, on a street corner.
The visit to the Esplanade of Mosques in late 2000 by Israeli general and politician Ariel Sharon, who was leader of the opposition at the time, is widely seen as the catalyst for the Second Palestinian Intifada, so any visit by a political leader from Israel is seen as a threat to the stability and interpreted the status quo of the place.
However, Ben Gvir, leader of an ultra-nationalist formation integrated into the coalition that received the third-highest number of votes in Israel’s September general election, has publicly reiterated his desire to change the current situation in the Esplanade of Mosques and allow for a larger Jewish one Presence, a change that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is refusing for the time being, according to the Israeli press.
In a message Spread on social media after his controversial visit, Ben Gvir declared that the Temple Mount, as the Jews call the esplanade of the mosques, “is open to all.” He also took the opportunity to throw a dart at Hamas, assuring that if they think their threats will dissuade him, “they understand that times have changed” and that “there is a government there in Jerusalem”.
Ben Gvir’s visit lasted about 15 minutes, according to the Israeli press, and came after the minister held a situation assessment meeting with the police on Monday, who gave him the green light in coordination with “political ranks,” according to a spokesman for the body Medium confirmed.
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Ben Gvir, whose ministry oversees the police force, has been convicted in the past of supporting a terrorist group and inciting racism, and accused of being a provocateur. In this sense, the minister has recently starred in several similar episodes, such as when he led ultra-marches through the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City and opened an office in East Jerusalem’s famed Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
The Palestinian Authority’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning “the attack” by the “extremist minister”, considering it an “unprecedented provocation and a serious threat” and blaming Netanyahu “for this flagrant attack”. Hamas, for its part, in another statement, using more aggressive rhetoric, has taken the view that Ben Gvir’s “plans and threats” are “a harbinger of inflammation in the region” and “add fuel to the fire”; has called on the Palestinian people for “general mobilization” and defense of Al Aqsa “against settler incursions”. [israelíes] and its extremist leader.”
According to the status quo since 1967 – when Israel occupied the eastern part of Jerusalem where the Esplanade is located – the site is reserved exclusively for the worship of Muslims, while Jews are only allowed to enter as visitors, as Jewish laws forbid their worshipers to pray in the holiest spot for them, something reserved for only a few rabbis. For this reason, Jewish prayer is practiced at the Western Wall, located on one side of the Esplanade, and this is recommended by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, although in recent years some rabbis who have joined the religious movement of Zionism have changed this recommendation and advocate praying where the Second Temple was built, Efe news agency reports.
International Beliefs
Also, the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which formally retains authority over the site condemned “In the strongest possible terms” the “attack” on Al Aqsa after King Abdullah warned in an interview with CNN last week that the holy sites in Jerusalem constitute a red line.
Egypt, which in recent years has emerged as one of the main mediators between Israelis and Palestinians, particularly in Gaza, has deplored “the attack” and warned of the negative impact of these gestures on security and stability in the region. On Sunday, Egyptian President Abdelfatá Al Sisi called Netanyahu for the first time since returning to the post of prime minister and stressed the need to “refrain from any unilateral action that could create tension and complicate the situation.”
Other countries in the region, such as the United Arab Emirates, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020 under the Abraham Accords, as well as Saudi Arabiawith whom Netanyahu hopes to establish relations have also condemned the events.
Likewise, US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides has told Israeli news site Walla that any change to the status quo of the Esplanade of Mosques is unacceptable, in a position similar to France’s in a short message in the networks. Former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid has stated on Twitter: “This is what happens when a weak Prime Minister is forced to entrust the most irresponsible man in the Middle East with the most explosive place in the Middle East.”
Aside from concerns about the future of the Esplanade of Mosques that has spawned the new government of Netanyahu, the most right-wing in the country’s history, inside and outside Israel, his Ultra partners also stir strong suspicions for his positions on the Palestinian occupation, Separation of powers, LGBTQ+ rights and ultra-Orthodox factional control over key state institutions.
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