From the editors of the Palestine Chronicle 
Israel’s far-right security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has sparked an outcry by claiming that Jews have the right to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and that if he were able, he would build a synagogue on the site.
“The policy allows prayers on the Temple Mount (Al-Aqsa Mosque). The same laws apply there for Jews and Muslims. I would build a synagogue there,” said Ben-Gvir, the leader of the Jewish Power Party. told Israel’s army radio, according to a post on X on Monday.
Ben-Gvir’s comments came at a time of repeated break-ins into the complex by illegal Jewish settlers under the noses of the Israeli police, which reports to the far-right minister.
According to Haaretz, he also said that there would be “no discriminatory policies” on the mosque premises, adding that “praying is permitted.” He continued, “If I could do whatever I wanted on the Temple Mount, the Israeli flag would have been raised there a long time ago.”
“Irresponsible act”
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant sharply criticized Ben-Gvir, saying his actions posed a threat to Israel’s security.
“Challenging the status quo on the Temple Mount is a dangerous, unnecessary and irresponsible act,” Gallant said. said on X.
He stated that Ben-Gvir’s “actions endanger the national security of the State of Israel and its international status.”
ערעור הסטטוס קוו בהר הבית הוא מעשה מסוכן, מיותר וחסר אחריות. פעולותיו של בן גביר מסכנות את ביטחונה הלאומי של מדינת ישראל ואת מע. מדה הבינלאומי.
הפעולה שביצע צה״ל אתמול לבלימת מתקפת חיזבאללה חיזקה את מדינת ישרא. ל, הצהרותיו של בן גביר – מחלישות אותנו.
— יואב גלנט – Yoav Gallant (@yoavgallant) 26 August 2024
Israel’s Interior Minister Moshe Arbel called on Netanyahu to remove Ben-Gvir from his post as police chief, warning that his “lack of thought could be paid for in blood,” the Times of Israel reported.
Ben-Gvir’s “irresponsible comments call into question Israel’s strategic alliances with Muslim states as part of an alliance against the evil Iranian axis,” he is said to have added.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, the report continued, immediately issued a statement saying: “There is no change in the status quo on the Temple Mount.”
Call to the OIC and the Muslim world
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas called Ben-Gvir’s comments a “dangerous statement” and added that “Arab and Islamic nations must fulfill their responsibility in protecting Al-Aqsa and the holy sites.”
השר @itamarbengvir אצל #Saints_Saints: “המדיניה הייתי מקים שם בית כנסת”@sefiova @yanircozin pic.twitter.com/WDBbW3lkVL
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) 26 August 2024
“The unprecedented crimes of the fascist occupying forces in the Gaza Strip, the extensive violations in the West Bank and the free hand of its extremist ministers in implementing their evil plans in Al-Quds and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque – by desecrating, storming and conducting provocative tours there on a daily basis – are measures that will add fuel to the fire and only face more resistance from our people who want to protect our holy sites,” Hamas said in a statement.
The movement called on “Arab and Islamic nations – governments, peoples and organizations, led by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation – to assume their responsibility, take a firm stance against the occupation’s plans and its blatant attacks on the first Qibla and the third of the two holy mosques, and to use all means to stop this brutal aggression against our Palestinian people and to protect our Islamic and Christian shrines, of which the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque stands foremost.”
“Guidelines for Jewish Prayer”
Earlier this month, Ben-Gvir, another minister and thousands of Jewish settlers stormed the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of Israeli occupation forces.
During the incursion, Ben-Gvir reportedly claimed that significant progress had been made in asserting Israeli sovereignty and authority over what he called the Temple Mount, and stated: “Our policy is to allow Jewish prayers here.”
“Blatant violation” – Ben-Gvir storms Al-Aqsa with thousands of settlers
(PC, Anadolu)
