Netanyahu fails to convince his controversial National Security Minister to postpone his visit to Jerusalem's Temple Mount, a recurrent focus of clashes between Israelis and Palestinians

Ben-Gvir sets Israel's new government's first hours on fire with visit to the Esplanade of the Mosques

photo_camera IMAGEN/TWITTER (@itamarbengvir) - Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Esplanade of the Mosques in Jerusalem in a move seen as a "provocation" by opposition and Palestinian forces

The newly appointed National Security Minister, the far-right Itamar Ben-Gvir, was planning to visit Jerusalem's Esplanade of the Mosques in the coming days in one of his first public appearances as a full member of Israel's new government. Minutes after taking office, the leader of the nationalist Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) announced from the Knesset his intentions to walk across the Temple Mount, one of the holy sites for the two religions that has become a regular focus of clashes between Israelis and Palestinians. 

Netanyahu tried to put the brakes on his plans to defuse the first government crisis. The veteran Prime Minister, back in power 18 months later, summoned his controversial partner on Monday afternoon to try to convince him that undertaking the visit to the Esplanade of the Mosques at this time would be counterproductive, to say the least, for the new government, the most right-leaning in the history of the Hebrew nation, which seeks to put out fires at home and appease an international community seriously concerned about the radical drift of its members. 

The words of Bibi, the familiar nickname by which he is known to supporters and detractors alike, reportedly served to persuade Ben-Gvir not to cross this area of Jerusalem's Old City. The new head of the National Security portfolio pledged not to make the visit, at least not in the coming weeks, reported Ynet, the website of Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's largest circulation newspaper. Hours later, however, his entourage leaked to the Walla newspaper that the newly appointed minister was sticking to his decision.

And so it was. Ben-Gvir turned a deaf ear to Netanyahu's recommendation and appeared early on Tuesday morning at the Esplanade of the Mosques. He began a heavily guarded and accompanied by his rabbi, 15-minute visit at around 7 a.m. to send a message of strength. "Our government will not be deterred by Hamas threats. The Temple Mount is the most important place in the world for the Jewish people, and we will protect the freedom of movement of Muslims and Christians, but also of Jews who wish to visit it," he told the media. "We will deal with an iron fist with anyone who makes threats". 

Minutes after his visit, Ben-Gvir posted a picture on Twitter of himself at the holiest site for Judaism, and the third holiest for Islam, showing one of the Islamic shrines behind him. A photograph that many have seen as provocative. 

The opposition, led since 29 December by former Prime Minister Yair Lapid, raised the alarm about the possible consequences of the minister's move. "Itamar Ben-Gvir cannot be allowed to go up to the Temple Mount, it is a provocation that will lead to deadly violence and cost lives," warned the leader of the liberal Yesh Atid (in English, There is a Future). "Even if [Netanyahu] is weak, this time he should step on the gas and say 'you are not going up to the Temple Mount because people will die'." 

Ben-Gvir became the highest-ranking institutional representative to visit the compound in recent years on Tuesday. The inflammatory political leader has visited the site on previous occasions, but he has done so as a citizen and a member of parliament, not as a member of the government. Appearing as a minister, and moreover holding the sensitive national security portfolio, could be seen by Palestinians as provocative. "The security establishment thinks this is dangerous. It is no coincidence that ministers have avoided going to the Temple Mount for many years. Members of the Knesset can, but ministers can't. Certainly not the minister in charge of the police," Lapid insisted. 

The opposition leader interprets that "the world will see it as a violation of the status quo, an unnecessary risk. All the experts will say the same thing. Not all of them can give interviews, but I am telling you this based on information I have heard" "The elected government will be responsible for this", said the former Foreign Minister, the only solid alternative to Netanyahu, who came out of the polls in the 1 November elections far short of a parliamentary majority.

"I say it very clearly. Ben-Gvir's visit will blow up the situation and open the door to another intifada. We must be prepared and we call on everyone who can, to go to Al Aqsa and prevent him from entering," said Daoud Shihab, spokesman for Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, quoted by EFE yesterday.

Itamar Ben-Gvir

The Esplanade of the Mosques or Temple Mount is a symbolic site, revered by Muslims and Jews alike. The former know the area as the Noble Sanctuary, the complex containing the Al-Aqsa Mosque and other important Islamic shrines; the latter call it the Temple Mount, since this site was the location of the two temples of ancient Israel. Here, clashes between Israelis and Palestinians have been recurrent, mostly involving the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), whose interventions have resulted in fatalities. Lapid's statements are not unfounded.

The compound is reserved exclusively for Muslim worship, according to an unwritten rule established since Israel occupied the eastern part of Jerusalem where the Esplanade of the Mosques is located in 1967. Jews can only enter as visitors, as their laws prevent them from praying in the holiest place for their religion. Only a few rabbis have the power to do so, although this rule is beginning to be reversed by some with links to religious Zionism.

The former Prime Minister's remarks came minutes after warnings from Hamas. The Gaza Strip-based terrorist group threatened to retaliate should Ben-Gvir fulfil his promise to visit the Esplanade of the Mosques sometime this week. According to the pan-Arab Al-Mayadeen television channel, the organisation told Egyptian and UN mediators that it would "not stand idly by" and that "Ben-Gvir's passage would inflame the region". 

The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned Ben-Gvir's visit as "an unprecedented provocation" and said it held the Israeli prime minister responsible for what it described as a "flagrant attack" on the holy site. 

Bibi faces a delicate first few hours as head of government. The leader of the conservative Likud has put together a cabinet of extremist profiles hand in hand with his new travelling companion: the far-right Religious Zionism, a list that merges the forces of Bezalel Smootrich's Religious Zionism, Ben-Gvir's own Jewish Power and Avi Maoz's Noam.

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