Published: 6 January 2023
Last updated: 5 March 2024
National Security Minister Ben-Gvir went up Temple Mount despite international protests and fears that the provocation could destabilise the fragile compromise at the holy site.
Ariel Sharon’s visit to Temple Mount on September 28, 2000, ended quietly. The violence only exploded the next day when tens of thousands who attended Friday prayers clashed with police, and the shockwaves soon spread to the West Bank. Within days, Israel had slid into the Second Intifada, the bloodiest Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which cost the lives of thousands.
History doesn't repeat itself, nor can conditions in East Jerusalem in 2000 be compared to those of today. Also not comparable are Sharon’s publicised and flashy visit and the hurried visit, replete with misdirection stunts, held by new National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
But the quiet with which this week’s visit was received on the Palestinian street promises nothing regarding the future. In the past hundred years, the Palestinians have proved on numerous occasions that al-Aqsa is a bright red line.
In the Palestinian view, all of Temple Mount is al-Aqsa, and therefore there's no room for Jewish worship on it. But it’s much more than that. It's a national, religious, and political symbol of the first order, and any change to it is seen as a personal and national humiliation, demanding response.
Visits by senior Israeli figures are considered by the Palestinian and the entire Arab world as a violation of the exclusive control of the Muslim Waqf over the compound. The Waqf’s terminology refers to these visits as an “incursion” or “invasion.” These terms were adopted in all the condemnation announcements by Arab governments: Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt.
Even if it ends peacefully on the ground, this visit, less than a week after the government’s inauguration, already seems to be causing significant damage to Israel’s relations with Arab countries, and a worrying precedent for the rest of the government’s term.
READ MORE
Ben-Gvir's Temple Mount visit ended in quiet, but history shows it may not hold (Haaretz)
Why are PA, Jordan so worried about what happens on Temple Mount? (Jerusalem Post)
UAE to Request UN Security Council Convene to Discuss Temple Mount Status Quo (Haaretz)
Leading Haredi Newspaper Slams Ben-Gvir Over 'Dangerous' Temple Mount Visit (Haaretz)
Prayer on the Temple Mount is a matter of fierce debate within Judaism and conflicts over the site – which is also holy to Muslims – repeatedly spark violent clashes between Israelis and Palestinians
UN Security Council slated to meet on widely decried Temple Mount visit by Ben Gvir (Times of Israel)
Session unlikely to lead to formal censure but will reflect anger and concerns surrounding sensitive site, with one US official accusing far-right minister of trying to sow chaos
Ben Gvir is a pyromaniac, but it’s Netanyahu who has given him the matches Gvir (Times of Israel)
The PM could have simply told the far-right leader that his Temple Mount visit was counterproductive to Israel’s interests. Here’s why he didn’t
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Photo: National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Temple Mount, January 3, 2023. (Minhelet Har Habayit)
