JERUSALEM — Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, ignited a political firestorm on Sunday, August 3, 2025 after openly praying at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem—violating a decades-old status quo agreement that prohibits Jewish prayers at the sensitive site.
Photographs and videos circulating on social media showed Ben-Gvir, flanked by Israeli police officers, reciting prayers during a visit to the compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
The move has drawn swift and furious condemnation from regional actors and global observers alike.
Ben-Gvir’s actions directly contravene a longstanding understanding that permits non-Muslims, including Jews, to visit the site but forbids them from engaging in religious rituals there.
This “status quo” arrangement has been central to preventing broader religious and political conflict over one of the most contested religious sites in the world.
Jordan, which serves as the custodian of the site under an agreement that dates back to Israel’s capture of East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War, denounced the visit as “an unacceptable provocation.”
The Waqf, the Islamic authority managing the site, reported that more than 1,200 Jewish visitors entered the compound on Sunday morning, with Ben-Gvir among them.
Palestinian leaders were quick to respond.
A spokesperson for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas described Ben-Gvir’s visit as having “crossed all red lines.”
Hamas called it “a deepening of the ongoing aggressions against our Palestinian people.”
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office attempted to contain the fallout, issuing a statement that “there has been no change to Israel’s policy” regarding the status quo at the site.
The al-Aqsa Mosque compound is the third holiest site in Islam and sits on a plateau that is also revered by Jews as the location of the First and Second Temples, making it the holiest site in Judaism.
Tensions over the site have repeatedly ignited wider Israeli-Palestinian conflicts.
While Israeli authorities nominally maintain the ban on Jewish prayer at the site, Palestinians allege that enforcement has grown increasingly lax in recent years, with growing instances of Jewish worshippers praying without police intervention.
Ben-Gvir’s visit is particularly incendiary due to his role as national security minister, which places him in direct control of Israeli police forces, including those operating in and around the compound.
During his visit, Ben-Gvir referenced recent hostage videos released by Hamas, describing them as “horror” clips aimed at demoralising Israel.
He used the occasion to renew his call for a full Israeli occupation of Gaza and the “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians—a phrase widely interpreted by experts as code for forced displacement.
International law experts have warned that such policies would constitute a grave violation of international humanitarian law, potentially rising to the level of war crimes.
Ben-Gvir is already under international scrutiny.
Earlier this year, the United Kingdom sanctioned him for what it described as “repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian communities” in the occupied West Bank.
