Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid warned on Monday against a proposed visit to the Temple Mount by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, saying that it would lead to bloodshed.
“Ben-Gvir must not go up to Temple Mount. It is a deliberate provocation that will put lives in danger and cost lives,” said Lapid.
“As weak as [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is, he must, at least this time, stand up and tell him, ‘You are not going to the Temple Mount.’ People will die,” he added.
The opposition head suggested that only regular lawmakers and not ministers could ascend the Mount, saying that otherwise it would “be viewed by the whole world as breaking the status quo, even if it’s not.”
High-ranking members of the Israel Police, including Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai, were set to discuss on Monday a request by Ben-Gvir to visit Judaism’s holiest site.
Ben-Gvir, who as national security minister is in charge of the police force, had previously informed authorities of his intent to visit the Mount on Tuesday or Wednesday. That the development was leaked could indicate a desire on the part of police to torpedo the move over fears of Muslim violence.
Lapid called on Netanyahu not to allow Ben-Gvir to go ahead with his visit.
Israeli public broadcaster KAN earlier said that Ben-Gvir’s office had notified the police of his plans to visit the flashpoint site on Tuesday or Wednesday.
If confirmed, the tour will be the first by the far-right Cabinet minister to the mosque complex since he joined Netanyahu’s new government last week.
Ben-Gvir holds far-right views on the Palestinians and has called for their displacement. He has repeatedly joined Israeli settlers in storming the mosque complex in East Jerusalem.
The far-right politician also caused a wave of escalation in the occupied city after setting up an office in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
Last November, President Isaac Herzog warned in a leaked audio that “the whole world is worried” about Ben-Gvir’s far-right views according to the Anadolu Agency.
A longtime advocate for Jews being allowed to freely visit and pray at their holiest site, Ben-Gvir vowed on the campaign trail to change the status quo preventing them from doing both.
Currently, Jews can only visit the Mount during short windows of time, and are prohibited from worshiping to not upset Muslims, who regularly riot there.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II last week said he was ready for a conflict should Israel’s new government violate “red lines” by changing the status quo governing relations at Jerusalem’s holy sites.
Abdullah’s family, the Hashemites, has long been the “custodian” of Muslim and Christian holy sites in the Israeli capital, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque that sits atop the Temple Mount.
A spokesman for Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas said last week that the Israeli government’s policy agenda constituted a “dangerous escalation.” Nabil Abu Rudeineh issued a veiled warning that there would be ongoing violence unless a Palestinian state was created, according to the official Palestinian Wafa news agency.
In a statement attributed to Hamas spokesperson Abd Al Latif Al, and passed on to the Israeli government via Egyptian and UN mediators, the terror group warned that Ben Gvir’s planned visit “indicates that the fascist settler government has begun its plan to attack our people and the Al-Aqsa Mosque and declare war on it.” according to The Times of Israel.
Produced in association with Jewish News Syndicate.
(Additional reporting provided by Lennox Kalifungwa)
