Israel’s extremist national security minister made a provocative move to try to undermine ceasefire talks by recording a video of himself visiting Islam’s holiest site in Jerusalem and going to pray.
Itamar Ben Gvir, an ultranationalist and defender of the settler movement, filmed the footage on the grounds of Al-Aqsa Mosque, also known as the Temple Mount, a holy site for both Muslims and Jews.
Speaking in the shadow of the Dome of the Rock, with guards behind him and armed Israeli Border Patrol officers patrolling nearby, Ben Gvir said he had come to the site to pray for the return of Israeli hostages being held by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip “but without making any reckless deals or surrendering.”
He added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “praying and working hard” to resist international pressure to sign a ceasefire and continue military operations in Gaza. Israeli attacks have killed more than 38,000 people in the Gaza Strip since Hamas fighters attacked on October 7 last year.
His visit drew swift condemnation from the Jordanian foreign ministry, a powerful arm of the body that governs Islam’s holiest sites, which called it a “provocative step” and a violation by the “extremist Israeli government”.
Ben Gvir’s decision to venture there was also condemned by Interior Minister Moshe Arber, who belongs to Israel’s Jewish religious party Shas, who reprimanded him for entering the area.
“One day the era of Ben Gvir provocations will come to an end.” Arbel says:.
Ben Gvir last visited the site in May to voice opposition to Spain, Norway, Ireland and other countries recognising a Palestinian state. His latest visit, coming as he prepares to travel to Washington and in the midst of ceasefire negotiations in Gaza, is seen as more provocative.
The Al-Aqsa mosque site is highly sensitive and attempts by a militant sect of Jewish settlers to pray there are seen as an offence by Muslim worshippers and observers, symbolising a move to bring the mosque site and the divided holy city of Jerusalem under full Israeli control.
Visits to the site by Israeli ministers and incursions by Israeli security forces have proven to trigger protests and violence in the past, notably Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s visit in 2000, which sparked the uprising known as the Second Intifada.
Netanyahu A summary of the current situation at the Al-Aqsa site in 2015“Muslims pray on the Temple Mount and non-Muslims visit,” he said.
Daniel Seidemann, an Israeli lawyer and expert on Jerusalem politics, said the rise of the radical Israeli settler movement has shifted the fragile balance in the holy site.
“It’s clear that in recent years the status quo has been significantly disrupted. In the beginning, there were daily Jewish prayers that people started with whispers and murmurs,” he said. “Today, there are groups escorted by police, and although these groups keep a low profile, it’s a source of great tension.”
“For the past 20 years, events and discourse in Jerusalem have been run by religious arsonists,” he said. “This conflict has not become a religious war, but the people who instigate events are fighting a religious war.”
He added that Ben Gvir’s visit was intended as a symbol of “nationalist triumphalism” – a show of strength designed to highlight Israel’s victory in Gaza and control of a key location long claimed by the Palestinians.
Several hardline ministers in Netanyahu’s government, including Ben Gvir, tried to dissuade the prime minister from agreeing to the ceasefire by threatening to withdraw from the ruling coalition.
