Defense officials warn Ben-Gvir’s Temple Mount visit could empower Hamas, incite riots

Itamar Ben-Gvir at the Western Wall plaza before ascending to the Temple Mount-Al Aqsa complex, 13 August 2024

Josh Breiner reports in Haaretz on 14 August 2024:

Senior Israeli defense officials have warned that the police’s ignoring of status quo violations on the Temple Mount/Al Aqsa complex could escalate tensions, after National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and fellow Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party visited the compound on Tuesday morning together with dozens of Jewish worshipers.

Officials are concerned that the failure to enforce the law could lead to disturbances, and that Arab citizens may become involved. They criticized the police for allowing blatant violations of the religious status quo at the Al Aqsa compound, including Jewish prayers, the waving of Israeli flags, and singing, saying that the lax response to the incident sends a negative message to Israeli Arabs.

Defense officials said that Israeli Arabs haven’t been involved in clashes – despite calls to do so by Hamas and Hezbollah – because of an absence of a religious component to the Gaza war, adding that Hamas has failed to tie the current conflict to Al Aqsa. They contrast this absence of involvement to the 2021 Gaza war, when Israeli Arabs joined riots in several communities across the country.

These officials fear that the images of Ben-Gvir’s visit to the Temple Mount could bolster the narrative of Israeli Arabs that Al Aqsa is in danger, and drive some to engage in violence.

During Ben-Gvir and Wasserlauf’s visit to the contested holy site, some of them bowed in prayer, waved flags and sang the Israeli national anthem, while the police looked on and failed to enforce the law – defying the status quo.

“We’ve made significant progress in Israel’s sovereignty here. Our policy is to permit Jewish prayer,” Ben-Gvir said at the site that is sacred to both Jews and Muslims.  The Prime Minister’s Office responded by saying “There is no individual policy at the Temple Mount – neither that of the national security minster nor of any other ministers,” adding that the “event [Tuesday] morning is a deviation from the status quo.”

Vedant Patel, the principal deputy spokesperson of the U.S. State Department, commented on Tuesday that “the United States stands firmly for preservation of the historic status quo with respect to the holy sites of Jerusalem, and any unilateral action – which this would be that – any unilateral action like this that jeopardizes such status quo is unacceptable.”  Speaking at a press briefing, he added: “And not only is it unacceptable, it detracts from what we think is a vital time as we are working to get this cease-fire deal across the finish line. It detracts from what our stated goal is for the region, which is a two-state solution, a Palestinian state and an Israeli state that’s side-by-side, living in – with dignity and harmony.”

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