Until recently an outspoken activist in favor of allowing Jews to pray on the Temple Mount, member of the Knesset Itamar Ben Govir was outraged over the issue on Sunday – just as he prepared to take charge of the Israel Police, the agency that sets day-to-day policy at the site.
Ben Gvir, who is soon to take over New title of Minister of National SecurityAvoiding answers when asked In an interview with Cannes Public Radio If he plans to allow Jews to pray on the Temple Mount. Still, he vaguely said he would work to address the current situation whereby Jews cannot pray in holy places, calling it “racist.”
The comments represent a significant departure from his unequivocal rhetoric about the Temple Mount on the campaign trail, when he repeatedly emphasized the need to show Jews “own the place.” Ben is a regular visitor to GV’s Flashpoint site.
“Will Minister of National Security Allow Jews to Pray on Temple Mount?” Cannes journalist Kalman Libeskind asked Ben Zvir on Sunday.
“The National Security Minister will ask for clarification and act against the apartheid policy at the Temple Mount,” MK replied.
Liebskind’s co-host, Assaf Lieberman, noted that the person who would have to provide “clarification” about the police presence on the Temple Mount would be none other than the Minister of National Security.
“Itamar Ben Gvir will seek clarification from the Minister of National Security who will call Itamar Ben Gvir to clarify,” Lieberman joked.
As much as on-the-ground policy at the Temple Mount is determined not by official government resolutions but by the police stationed at the site — from the timing of Jewish visits to what pilgrims are allowed to do on the mount — the minister responsible because the police will have significant power over those decisions.
Ben Gavi reiterated his opposition to a “racist policy” to restrict non-Muslim prayer, without explaining what a new policy would look like.
Ben Gavir also declined to answer when pressed if he demanded that Jews be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount as a condition of joining the government of presumptive incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He said, some matters are only between me and the Prime Minister.
In recent years, a group of far-right Jewish activists have worked to make what was once a Jewish visit to the Temple Mount a mainstream issue in right-wing and religious circles. Although many leading rabbis forbid Jews from climbing the mount because they might inadvertently tread on the forbidden holy ground — including rabbinic leaders who support two ultra-Orthodox groups, Shas and United Torah Judaism, which are set to join the next government — more Orthodox rabbis Signed practice.
Israel once strictly forbade Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, but the ban has been gradually relaxed over the years, with private silent prayers and occasional group services now uncommon.
Temple Mount activists maintain that allowing Muslim prayer while banning public Jewish prayer at the holiest site in Judaism constitutes discrimination. Opponents claim that allowing Jews to pray on the Temple Mount would spark mass protests and riots from Muslims across the Middle East, as well as damage Israel’s diplomatic ties with Jordan, which has a special relationship with the Temple Mount.
Last year saw a record number of Jewish visits to the Temple Mount.
