Jerusalem, Israel. Israeli far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Thursday and praised Jewish visitors he said had prayed there, despite arrangements allowing prayer at the site only for Muslims. Jordan and Palestinian officials condemned the visit.
Site status
The compound, in Jerusalem’s walled Old City, is among the Middle East’s most sensitive religious sites. Known to Jews as Temple Mount, it is Judaism’s holiest site and Islam’s third-holiest site.
Under a decades-old arrangement with Muslim authorities, the site is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation. Jews may visit but are not permitted to pray there.
Suggestions that Israel could alter the arrangements have previously sparked Muslim outrage and violence.
Ben-Gvir’s comments
Ben-Gvir visited the compound on Tisha B’Av, a Jewish day of fasting and mourning marking the destruction of the ancient Jewish temples.
“On Tisha B’Av we mark the destruction. But we also see huge progress on the Temple Mount. Look at what’s happening here – Jews praying, feeling like they’re the owners of the place. This has never happened before,” he said in a video that appeared to show a Jewish visitor bowing in prayer.
There was no immediate sign of unrest following the visit.
Condemnation
Jordan’s foreign ministry and the Palestinian religious affairs ministry said the visit violated status-quo agreements.
Jordan described it as “a desecration of the sanctity of the mosque, an escalation, a barbaric act, and unacceptable provocation.”
There was no immediate comment from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. Previous visits and statements by Ben-Gvir have prompted Netanyahu to state that Israel’s policy of maintaining the status quo had not changed.