A far-right Israeli minister has sparked outrage by saying he would build a Jewish synagogue at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem if he could, strengthening the narrative that the Muslim holy site and Palestinian national symbol is under threat.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has repeatedly ignored the Israeli government’s longstanding ban on Jews praying at the site, told Army Radio on Monday that if it were possible, he would build a synagogue at the Al-Aqsa compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
The Al-Aqsa compound is Islam’s third holiest site and a symbol of Palestinian identity. It is also considered by Jews to be the site of the First and Second Temples – the latter destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
“If I could do anything I wanted, I would put an Israeli flag on the site,” Ben-Gvir said in the interview.
Asked several times by a journalist if he would build a synagogue at the site if it were up to him, Ben-Gvir finally replied: “Yes.”
Under the decades-old status quo maintained by Israeli authorities, Jews and other non-Muslims are allowed to visit the compound in occupied East Jerusalem during specified hours, but they are not permitted to pray there or display religious symbols.
Ben-Gvir has also been criticised by some Orthodox Jews, who consider the site too holy a place for Jews to enter. According to leading rabbis, it is forbidden for any Jew to enter any part of Al-Aqsa due to its sanctity.
In recent years, the restrictions at the compound have been increasingly flouted by hardline religious nationalists like Ben-Gvir, sometimes prompting confrontations with Palestinians.
Once considered a fringe movement, the campaign to build a “Third Temple” on Al-Aqsa is growing in Israel, and many Palestinians see parallels with what has happened in Hebron, where the Ibrahimi Mosque, also known as the Cave of the Patriarchs, was partitioned.
Since taking office in December 2022, Ben-Gvir, as national security minister, has visited the holy site at least six times, drawing severe condemnations.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is administered by Jordan, but access to the site itself is controlled by Israeli security forces.
Ben-Gvir told Army Radio that Jews should be allowed to pray in the compound.
“Arabs can pray wherever they want, so Jews should be able to pray wherever they want,” he said, claiming that the “current policy allows Jews to pray at this site”.
Several ultra-Orthodox Jewish politicians have previously denounced Ben-Gvir’s attempts to encourage Jewish prayer in Al-Aqsa.
One, Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, has previously called Ben-Gvir’s comments on the subject “blasphemy”, adding that “the ban on Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount is the position of all the great men of Israel for generations”.
‘Dangerous’
Jordan hit back at Ben-Gvir’s latest remarks.
“Al-Aqsa and the holy sites are a pure place of worship for Muslims,” Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sufian Qudah said in a statement.
“Jordan will take all necessary measures to stop the attacks on the holy sites” and “is preparing the necessary legal files to take action in international courts against the attacks on the holy sites,” Qudah said.
Several Israeli officials also condemned Ben-Gvir, while a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said “there is no change” to the current policy.
“Challenging the status quo on the Temple Mount is a dangerous, unnecessary, and irresponsible act,” Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on X.
“Ben-Gvir’s actions endanger the national security of the State of Israel.”
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said on X that Ben-Gvir’s repeated comments show that “Netanyahu lost control of his government”.
Palestinian presidency spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh warned that “Al-Aqsa and the holy sites are a red line that we will not allow to be touched at all”.
Hamas, with whom Israel is locked in a bitter war in the Gaza Strip, said the minister’s comments were “dangerous” and called on Arab and Islamic countries “to take responsibility for protecting the holy sites”.
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry called on Israel to comply with its obligations as an occupying power and stop provocative statements aimed at escalating tensions, Egyptian Ahram Online reported.
“These statements obstruct efforts to reach a truce and a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and pose a serious threat to the future of the final settlement of the Palestinian issue, which is based on the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the 4 June 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” the statement said.
Monday’s comments came less than two weeks after Ben-Gvir triggered outrage – including from influential Israeli rabbis – by visiting the compound with hundreds of supporters, many of whom appeared to be praying openly in defiance of the status quo rules.