Israel’s extremist national security minister has visited the holiest Muslim site in Jerusalem, recording a video saying he went to pray, in a provocative move as he seeks to disrupt ceasefire talks.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, an ultranationalist and champion of the settler movement, recorded footage at al-Aqsa mosque compound, also known as the Temple Mount, a site holy to Muslims and Jews.
In the shadow of the Dome of the Rock, Ben-Gvir spoke with his personal security visible behind him and an armed member of the Israeli border police patrolling nearby. He said he had come to the compound to pray for the return of Israeli hostages held by Palestinian militants in Gaza “but without a reckless deal, without surrendering”.
He added that he was “praying and working hard” for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to resist international pressure to sign a ceasefire deal and instead continue a military campaign in Gaza. Israeli attacks have killed more that 38,000 people in the strip since the attack by Hamas militants on 7 October last year.
His visit immediately drew condemnation from the Jordanian foreign ministry, a powerful force within the body administering the holy Islamic compound, which called it “a provocative step” and a violation undertaken by “the extremist Israeli government”.
The Israeli interior minister, Moshe Arbel, of the Jewish religious party Shas, chastised Ben-Gvir for entering the area. “One day, the era of provocations by Ben-Gvir will pass,” Arbel said.
John Kirby, a spokesperson for the US National Security Council, said without naming Ben-Gvir that the White House was “concerned about rhetoric and actions that are counterproductive to peace and security in the West Bank”.
He said: “The president has been pretty strident about his concerns over, for instance, the settler violence and we have also expressed our concerns about activities and rhetoric by certain Israeli leaders. And those concerns remain valid, and what we would continue to urge our Israeli counterparts to do is nothing that inflames passions or could lead to or encourage violent activity one way or the other.”
Biden is expected to speak with Netanyahu next week despite his recent Covid diagnosis, as part of a controversial visit by the Israeli leader to the US, where Netanyahu is expected to also address a joint session of Congress, Kirby said. He said the vice-president, Kamala Harris, who has been suggested as a potential replacement for Biden if he drops out of the election race, was also expected to meet Netanyahu.
Ben-Gvir last visited the site in May in order to state his objection to countries including Spain, Norway and Ireland recognising a Palestinian state. His latest visit is seen as additionally provoking, ahead of Netanyahu’s forthcoming visit to Washington and in the midst of negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Al-Aqsa mosque compound is a highly sensitive site, where efforts by a faction of extremist Jewish settlers to pray there are seen as a violation by Muslim worshippers and observers, symbolising efforts to bring the mosque compound and the divided holy city of Jerusalem under total Israeli control.
Visits by Israeli ministers to the site or incursions by Israeli security forces have proved to be a trigger for protests and violence in the past, notably a visit in 2000 by Ariel Sharon that fuelled an uprising known as the second intifada.
Netanyahu summed up the status quo at al-Aqsa in 2015, saying: “Muslims pray on the Temple Mount, non-Muslims visit.”
Daniel Seidemann, an Israeli lawyer and expert on the politics of Jerusalem, said the rise of a movement of extremist Israeli settlers had changed the fragile balance at the holy site.
“It’s clear in recent years that the status quo has been eroded significantly. First there were daily Jewish prayers that began with people whispering and mumbling,” he said. “Today there are groups escorted by the police, which is a major source of tension although these parties have kept a low profile.
“Over the last 20 years, the events and discourse in Jerusalem have been run by religious pyromaniacs. This conflict did not become a religious war, but the people driving events are fighting one.”
He said Ben-Gvir’s visit was intended as a symbol of “nationalistic triumphalism”, to flex his muscle and gesture at an Israeli victory in Gaza as well as control of key sites long claimed by Palestinians.
Several hardline ministers in Netanyahu’s government, including Ben-Gvir, have attempted to dissuade the prime minister from agreeing to a ceasefire deal, warning they would leave the ruling coalition.