Israeli minister Ben-Gvir says he would construct synagogue on Al-Aqsa compound | Al-Aqsa Mosque Information

A far-right Israeli minister has sparked outrage by saying he would construct a Jewish synagogue on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem if he may, strengthening the narrative that the Muslim holy website and Palestinian nationwide image is underneath risk.

Nationwide Safety Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has repeatedly ignored the Israeli authorities’s longstanding ban on Jews praying on the website, informed Military Radio on Monday that if it have been potential, he would construct a synagogue on the Al-Aqsa compound, identified to Jews because the Temple Mount.

The Al-Aqsa compound is Islam’s third holiest website and a logo of Palestinian identification. It is usually thought-about by Jews to be the positioning of the First and Second Temples – the latter destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

“If I may do something I wished, I’d put an Israeli flag on the positioning,” Ben-Gvir mentioned within the interview.

Requested a number of occasions by a journalist if he would construct a synagogue on the website if it have been as much as him, Ben-Gvir lastly replied: “Sure.”

Underneath the decades-old establishment maintained by Israeli authorities, Jews and different non-Muslims are allowed to go to the compound in occupied East Jerusalem throughout specified hours, however they aren’t permitted to hope there or show non secular symbols.

Ben-Gvir has additionally been criticised by some Orthodox Jews, who contemplate the positioning too holy a spot for Jews to enter. In keeping with main rabbis, it’s forbidden for any Jew to enter any a part of Al-Aqsa because of its sanctity.

In recent times, the restrictions on the compound have been more and more flouted by hardline non secular nationalists like Ben-Gvir, typically prompting confrontations with Palestinians.

As soon as thought-about a fringe motion, the marketing campaign to construct a “Third Temple” on Al-Aqsa is rising in Israel, and lots of Palestinians see parallels with what has occurred in Hebron, the place the Ibrahimi Mosque, also called the Cave of the Patriarchs, was partitioned.

Since taking workplace in December 2022, Ben-Gvir, as nationwide safety minister, has visited the holy website at the very least six occasions, drawing extreme condemnations.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is run by Jordan, however entry to the positioning itself is managed by Israeli safety forces.

Ben-Gvir informed Military Radio that Jews must be allowed to hope within the compound.

“Arabs can pray wherever they need, so Jews ought to be capable to pray wherever they need,” he mentioned, claiming that the “present coverage permits Jews to hope at this website”.

A number of ultra-Orthodox Jewish politicians have beforehand denounced Ben-Gvir’s makes an attempt to encourage Jewish prayer in Al-Aqsa.

One, Inside Minister Moshe Arbel, has beforehand known as Ben-Gvir’s feedback on the topic “blasphemy”, including that “the ban on Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount is the place of all the nice males of Israel for generations”.

‘Harmful’

Jordan hit again at Ben-Gvir’s newest remarks.

“Al-Aqsa and the holy websites are a pure place of worship for Muslims,” Jordanian Overseas Ministry spokesperson Sufian Qudah mentioned in a press release.

“Jordan will take all mandatory measures to cease the assaults on the holy websites” and “is making ready the required authorized recordsdata to take motion in worldwide courts towards the assaults on the holy websites,” Qudah mentioned.

A number of Israeli officers additionally condemned Ben-Gvir, whereas a press release from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s workplace mentioned “there isn’t any change” to the present coverage.

“Difficult the established order on the Temple Mount is a harmful, pointless, and irresponsible act,” Defence Minister Yoav Gallant mentioned on X.

“Ben-Gvir’s actions endanger the nationwide safety of the State of Israel.”

Israeli opposition chief Yair Lapid mentioned on X that Ben-Gvir’s repeated feedback present that “Netanyahu misplaced management of his authorities”.

Palestinian presidency spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh warned that “Al-Aqsa and the holy websites are a pink line that we are going to not enable to be touched in any respect”.

Hamas, with whom Israel is locked in a bitter battle within the Gaza Strip, mentioned the minister’s feedback have been “harmful” and known as on Arab and Islamic international locations “to take accountability for shielding the holy websites”.

Egypt’s Overseas Ministry known as on Israel to adjust to its obligations as an occupying energy and cease provocative statements geared toward escalating tensions, Egyptian Ahram On-line reported.

“These statements impede efforts to achieve a truce and a ceasefire within the Gaza Strip and pose a severe risk to the way forward for the ultimate settlement of the Palestinian difficulty, which relies on the two-state answer and the institution of an impartial Palestinian state alongside the 4 June 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” the assertion mentioned.

Monday’s feedback got here lower than two weeks after Ben-Gvir triggered outrage – together with from influential Israeli rabbis – by visiting the compound with lots of of supporters, a lot of whom seemed to be praying overtly in defiance of the established order guidelines.