The Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, who just took office yesterday, announced that he intends to go up to the Temple Mount this week. The attacks from the opposition were not long in coming, with the threats of the terrorist organization Hamas added to them in the background. A conversation that took place between Prime Minister Netanyahu and the chairman of Otzma Yehudit postponed the aliya, as of now, in a few weeks.
At the beginning of the faction’s meeting, the head of the opposition and chairman of Yesh Atid Yair Lapid stated that “Itamar Ben Gabir must not go up to the Temple Mount”, and that this is “provocations that will lead to violence that will endanger human lives and cost human lives.” With all this, Bibi is weak, this time he has to stand up and tell him you are not going up to the Temple Mount because people will die.” It’s a sensitive thing. It’s our right to visit the Temple Mount. We need to do it the right way and not stir things up, in a respectable and sensitive way.”
On the other hand, Minister Bezalel Smotrich defended the position to go up to the Temple Mount and said that “it is part of the status quo that exists there, all attempts to terrorize are completely exaggerated and should be repelled with all our might.” Ben Gvir himself said that “the Temple Mount is an important issue and, as I said, I am preparing to go up to the Temple Mount. Regarding the schedules – I promise to update when I go up. Until then, I would like the news broadcasts to open every evening with news that deals with the question of when I intend to go up to the Temple Mount.”
The terrorist organization Hamas threatened that “if Itamar Ben Gabir goes up to the Temple Mount – we will not stand idly by, we place the responsibility on the occupation government for any escalation whether it be in Al-Aqsa or our people in Jerusalem.”
Against the background of the storm, Knesset member Zvika Fogel from Ben Gvir’s party ascended the mountain for the first time, among other things, with the aim of examining the arrangements for the aliyah and conduct on the Temple Mount. Vogel said that “right here in this holy place, this is something that gives me a lot of motivation to change this situation in the future. There is no reason why this holy city, especially where we are, should not respect all three religions on all holidays and in all possibilities. We will try to do It’s the best.”