Israeli Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a far-right settler accustomed to provocations, prayed Tuesday with some 3,000 Jewish worshipers on the Esplanade of the Mosques in East Jerusalem, immediately triggering the ire of the international community.
“Unnecessary” or “unacceptable provocation”, the UN, the European Union, the United States, France and several Muslim countries immediately denounced the attitude of the leader of the far-right Jewish Force party. Located in the sector of the Holy City occupied and annexed by Israel, the Esplanade of the Mosques, the third holiest site in Islam, is built on the ruins of the second Jewish temple, destroyed in the year 70 by the Romans. For Jews, it is the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism.
Minister charged more than 50 times for inciting violence
Israeli Minister of National Security Ben Gvir filmed himself there on Tuesday on the occasion of Tisha Beav, the Jewish commemoration of the destruction of the two Temples, calling in particular to “beat” Hamas rather than negotiate with the Palestinian Islamist movement, against the backdrop of war in the Gaza Strip.
On Tuesday morning, during the few hours that the esplanade was open to non-Muslims, “about 2,250 Jews prayed, danced and raised the Israeli flag” on the site, an official of the Waqf, the Jordanian administration of Muslim religious properties in Jerusalem, told AFP. During the second slot allocated to non-Muslims in the afternoon, “more than 700 Jews prayed there,” according to the same source on condition of anonymity.
Under a status quo decreed after Israel’s conquest of East Jerusalem in 1967, non-Muslims can go to the Esplanade of the Mosques, which houses the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa mosque, at specified times, without praying there, a rule increasingly disregarded by some nationalist Jews.
The spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, Farhan Haq, said he was “against any attempt to change the status quo related to the holy sites”. “This type of behavior does not help and is an unnecessary provocation,” he added. The United States called “unacceptable” the outburst by the Israeli minister, who was indicted more than 50 times in his youth for incitement to violence or hate speech, and convicted in 2007 of supporting a terrorist group and inciting racism.
“Not only is this unacceptable, it also distracts from what we believe is a vital moment as we work to reach a ceasefire agreement” in Gaza, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters. The European Union’s top diplomat denounced “provocations,” while Jordan condemned “the storming” of the esplanade by the far-right minister and Israeli MPs “under the protection of the Israeli occupation police.”
Weak condemnation from Netanyahu’s office
Amman called it “unilateral Israeli measures and continued violations of the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem and its holy sites.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office denounced an “event” that constitutes “an exception to the status quo.”
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry denounced an “escalation” and “provocations”, referring to “illegal incursions (…) to prepare the imposition of total Israeli control and a Judaization” of the places “in violation of international law”. Several Arab capitals, Turkey and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have also strongly condemned these “incursions”.