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SvennoJ on 24 July 2024
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Ben-Gvir says Jews can pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque

Far-right Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir says Jewish people are allowed to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque, a statement that goes against a decades-long policy.

“I am in the political echelon, and the political echelon allows Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount,” he said in a speech at a convention encouraging Jewish visits to the holy site.

Located in occupied East Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, is a recurring flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Since 1967, the Waqf – a Jordanian-appointed body – administers the site, while Israel has “security” control. Under the agreement, only Muslims are permitted to pray there, and visits from non-Muslims are only allowed at specific times.

Yet, as International Crisis Group analyst Mairav Zonszein said, Jewish visitors have been increasingly praying there “in direct conflict” with the status quo agreement. “Announcing the change now is a direct effort to spark violence and clashes in Jerusalem and with [the] Muslim world,”  Zonszein said.

Last week, Ben-Gvir visited the site in what critics called a dangerous provocation aimed at derailing already fragile negotiations for the return of the captives held in Gaza.


Israeli police deny Jews allowed to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque

“We do not allow [Jewish] prayer at the Temple Mount,” Eyal Avraham, commander of the Israeli police’s holy sites unit, says in a video on the Walla news site.

Avraham’s comments came soon after far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir had said Jewish people are allowed to pray at the site.

Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site for Muslims, is known by Jews as the Temple Mount, which is the holiest site in Judaism. Jewish people are not allowed to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque under a longstanding “status quo” agreement.


Ben-Gvir’s Al-Aqsa Mosque comments draw criticism

Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has drawn criticism for saying that Jewish people are allowed to pray at al-Aqsa Mosque in what would be a contravention of a longstanding “status quo” agreement.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant slammed his call, saying that in the Israeli government, there is “a pyroman who is trying to set the Middle East on fire”.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group said Ben-Gvir’s comments were a “recipe for bloodshed” and called on Palestinians to continue defending their nation’s holy places.


Israeli PM Office says Al-Aqsa Mosque status quo ‘not changed’

Israeli Prime Minister’s Office has issued a statement after far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Jewish people were allowed to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. As part of a long-held agreement, non-Muslims are not allowed to pray at the Al-Aqsa compound – Islam’s third-holiest site.

“Israel’s policy of maintaining the status-quo on the Temple Mount has not changed and will not change,” the office said in a statement on X referring to the mosque compound as Temple Mount.