Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the criticism he has received for his decision to close the Temple Mount to Jewish visitors for the final week of Ramadan.
"When I became Prime Minister in 2009, 5,000 Jews ascended the Temple Mount a year, and in 2019, 37,000 Jews ascended, and I am very proud of that," Netanyahu said in an interview with Channel 14 News.
"Jews will continue to ascend the Temple Mount. They are doing it by the thousands and I am proud that Jews are ascending the Temple Mount," he said.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir yesterday (Wednesday) called the Prime Minister's decision to close the Temple Mount to Jewish visitors a "grave mistake."
"The Prime Minister's decision to close the Temple Mount to Jews during a wave of terror attacks is a grave mistake that won't bring quiet but can only escalate the situation. The lack of Jewish presence on the Temple Mount will automatically lower the police presence on the Mount, something that will create a fertile bed for the incitement to murder of Jews and even a situation of rock-throwing at Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall. When terrorism hits us, we have to hit it back, not capitulate to it," Ben-Gvir said.