Jan. 3 (UPI) — Israel’s new national security minister angered Palestinians after visiting a hotly contested holy site in Jerusalem on Tuesday despite threats of violence and protests from Middle Eastern groups.
ממשלת ישראל שאני חבר בה לא תיכנע לארגון מרצחים שפל. ! pic. twitter. com/vgDYBYacJG— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) January 3, 2023
Jews, on the other hand, also claim the site and refer to the compound as the Temple Mount, which is Judaism’s holiest position.
Jews and other non-Muslims stop at the site, yet there is a long-standing culture that they do not pray.
Ben-Gvir, who is the leader of the Otzma Yehudit party, has indicated in the past that he needs to replace this rule to allow Jews to worship there.
Ben-Gvir angered the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, which criticized Netanyahu for a “blatant attack” on the holy site.
On Tuesday, Palestinian leaders condemned the scale, saying the Israeli government’s provocative move threatened to create a new confrontation between longtime adversaries.
“The assault on al-Aqsa Mosque by extremist Minister Ben-Gvir” is an “unprecedented provocation and escalation,” according to the statement.
The latest tensions come as Netanyahu’s new right-wing government takes a tougher stance toward Palestinians amid the unfolding tumult in several Israeli-occupied territories.
Meanwhile, senior Israeli government officials have made calls for annexation of the West Bank, which the Palestinians see as their own territory for a long-term state.
On its first day on Monday, Israel’s new foreign minister, Eli Cohen, called on Palestinian leaders to appear before a war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Late last week, the United Nations General Assembly followed a solution calling on the International Court of Justice. to assess the status of the ongoing conflict.
A move by Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the holy compound in 2000 sparked a fatal Palestinian uprising that lasted several years.
More recently, violence erupted in May 2021 when Hamas fired rockets into Jerusalem, sparking an 11-day standoff with Israel.