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Israeli minister declares end to ban on Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount

National Security Minister and senior police official spar over ban on Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount, sparking controversy within the Netanyahu government.

By World Israel News Staff

A senior Israeli government minister declared Wednesday that the long-standing ban on Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount – the holiest site in Judaism – was null and void, after he prayed there himself last week.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ascended the Temple Mount last Thursday, where he recorded a video message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging him not to agree to a hostage deal with Hamas.

On Wednesday, Ben-Gvir addressed a gathering on Jewish visitation of the Jerusalem holy site, during which he said that as the minister charged with administering police affairs, he has permitted Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount.

“I was at the Temple Mount last week. I prayed at the Temple Mount and we are praying at the Temple Mount. I am in the political echelon, and the political echelon allows Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount.”

Later on Wednesday, Ben-Gvir mocked coverage of his speech, noting his past comments in support of legalizing Jewish prayer on the Mount.

“These are things I’ve been saying for a year and a half already, every time I talk about the Temple Mount. Why are you suddenly realizing this only now? There will be no racist discrimination against Jews on my watch, banning only them from praying – and at the holiest site to the Jewish people,” Ben-Gvir tweeted.

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Shortly after Ben-Gvir’s comments Wednesday, the police commander charged with securing holy sites in Israel said in a video statement that the ban on Jewish prayer on the Mount had not been lifted.

“We do not allow prayer at the Temple Mount,” said Chief Superintendent Eyal Avraham.

Ben-Gvir’s comments also drew fire from inside the Netanyahu government, with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (Likud), a frequent critic of the National Security Minister, calling Ben-Gvir a “pyromaniac.”

Ultra-Orthodox coalition members also protested Ben-Gvir’s position, citing the opinions of some rabbinic decisors banning Jewish visitation of the Temple Mount due to ritual impurity.

Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, a member of the Sephardic Shas party, called Ben-Gvir’s statement “great blasphemy,” while MK Moshe Gafni, head of the Degel HaTorah faction within the United Torah Judaism party, tweeted a call to Netanyahu not to accept an alteration to the status quo on the Mount.

“I demand the prime minister not allow the status quo to change on the Temple Mount, and if there are changes, then to close the Temple Mount to Jews.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not directly respond to the controversy, though his office did release a one-sentence statement Wednesday afternoon, rejecting Ben-Gvir’s claim that the ban on Jewish prayer had been lifted.

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“Israel’s policy of maintaining the status-quo on the Temple Mount has not changed and will not change.”