Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir faced a wave of criticism from around the world on Tuesday after he declared that Jewish prayer is allowed atop the Temple Mount amid his own visit to the flashpoint site — violating the status quo and directly contradicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s own directives.
Condemnation of his visit and comments poured in from the United States, European Union, United Nations, France, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and others on Tuesday.
The Biden administration slammed Ben Gvir, saying his actions and remarks harmed Israeli security.
“We certainly are paying close attention to actions and activities that we find to be a detraction from Israel’s security, a contributor to greater insecurity and instability in the region. That would certainly be the actions that we saw today that Mr. Ben Gvir participated in,” US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said during a press briefing.
Patel noted that “even the Prime Minister’s Office made clear that the events of this morning are a deviation from what is Israeli policy and a deviation from the status quo.” The spokesman said that the US “stands firmly for preservation of the historic status quo with respect to the holy sites of Jerusalem. Any unilateral action like this that jeopardizes the status quo is unacceptable.”
Noting the sensitive timing, as Israel is bracing for retaliatory strikes from both Iran and Hezbollah days before ceasefire talks are slated to restart, Patel said Ben Gvir’s visit “detracts from what we think is a vital time, as we are working to get this ceasefire deal across the finish line. It detracts from what our stated goal is for the region, which is a two-state solution.”
Ben Gvir, who heads the ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit party, has long advocated for greater Israeli control over the Temple Mount and the lifting of restrictions on Jews praying there. On Tuesday, amid the Jewish fast of Tisha B’Av, which commemorates the destruction of the Jewish temples, the minister visited the site alongside a large group of men who openly prayed and prostrated at the site, with Ben Gvir sharing a video declaring that “our policy is to allow prayer.”
The move sparked yet another repudiation from Netanyahu’s office, saying that policy at the site “is directly subject to the government and the prime minister. There is no private policy by a specific minister at the Temple Mount — neither by the national security minister nor by any other minister,” underscoring that “Israel’s policy at the Temple Mount hasn’t changed.”
The EU on Tuesday also condemned what it called Ben Gvir’s “provocations” at the site.
“The EU strongly condemns the provocations by Israeli Min. Ben Gvir who, during his visit to the Holy Sites, advocated for the violation of the status quo,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell wrote on X.
The UN joined the denunciations, calling the minister’s visit and his comments “unduly provocative.”
“We are against any efforts to change the status quo within the holy sites,” said deputy spokesman Farhan Haq. “Al-Aqsa mosque, like the other holy sites in Jerusalem, should be left to themselves and should be controlled by the existing religious authorities for the sites. This sort of behavior is unhelpful and it is unduly provocative.”
France’s foreign ministry, meanwhile, urged Israel to respect the status quo at the site, adding that “this new provocation is unacceptable.”
Qatar condemned “in the strongest terms” the visit to the Temple Mount, calling it “a provocation and a flagrant violation of international law” that may negatively impact ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry slammed the “blatant and repeated incursions” by Israeli officials and citizens to the site, while Jordan urged the international community to “firmly” condemn the visit and Egypt demanded world powers “play an active role in confronting these violations that stir up emotions and thwart efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.”
Meanwhile, unnamed security sources told Channel 12 news that they have seen an uptick in terror threats since Ben Gvir’s visit to the Temple Mount, accusing the minister of playing with fire and risking drawing Arab Israelis into the ongoing conflict.
The vague status quo governing the compound, the holiest site in Judaism and third-holiest in Islam, allows Muslims to pray and enter with few restrictions, while non-Muslims, including Jews, can visit only during limited time slots via a single gate. Visibly religious Jews are only allowed to walk on a predetermined route, closely accompanied by police.
Palestinians often claim Israel wishes to assert greater control over the Mount, and the issue is seen as a particularly sensitive one, with explosive potential for the region. Violations of the status quo are viewed by Israeli security officials as having the potential to set off mass unrest. The Temple Mount has been the scene of frequent clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces, and tensions at the disputed compound have fueled past rounds of violence.