A total of 1,974 Jews ascended the Temple Mount on Tuesday morning, marking the day the Holy Temples were destroyed in Jerusalem millennia ago. Dozens of the pilgrims were filmed prostrating themselves in the compound, a practice generally stopped by Israeli police.
The police detained and expelled 40 of them who violated the rules, prostrated themselves, and waved Israeli flags, 29 of whom were warned and 11 of whom were detained for questioning.
Among the visitors were Ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Itshak Waserlauf and MK Amit Halevi (Likud). Ben-Gvir and Waserlauf were filmed praying on the Mount. The prostrations took place under the aegis of the Ministers' presence and the accompanying reduced enforcement activity.
While on the Temple Mount, Ben-Gvir said: "We are observing Tisha B'av on the Temple Mount, coming here to mark the destruction of the Temple. But we must also say honestly: There is very great progress here in governance, in sovereignty. There are pictures of Jews praying here. As I said: Our policy is to allow prayer. I say another thing: We must win this war. We must win and not go to conferences in Doha or Cairo, but to win, to bring them to their knees - that is the message. We can win against Hamas and bring them to their knees."
MK Halevi said: "I went up to the Mount today with thousands of Jews in prayer for victory in the war. This is a war for the Mount, for God, against an enemy who in the name of religion fills the world with murder, barbarism, and evil against the Israeli culture and the voice that calls from the Mount of the Temple, alongside justice and truth, morality, and mercy. This is the ultimate victory and we will win."
The Prime Minister's Office commented on the incident: "It is the government and the Prime Minister who determine policy on the Temple Mount. There is no private policy of any minister – not the National Security Minister or any other minister – on the Temple Mount. Thus it has been under all governments of Israel. This morning's incident on the Temple Mount deviated from the status quo. Israel's policy on the Temple Mount has not changed; this is how it has been and this is how it will be."
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid denounced the incident as well. "Ben Gvir's election campaign on the Temple Mount, in direct contravention of the position of the security forces, during wartime, endangers the lives of Israeli citizens and the lives of our soldiers and police officers. The band of irresponsible extremists in the government is trying to drag Israel into a regional war. These people cannot run a country."
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant likewise denounced the decision: "The Israeli government includes an arsonist who tries to set the Middle East ablaze. He opposes any negotiations to bring him into the War Cabinet - this will allow him to realize his plans."
Minister of Religious Services Michael Malkieli responded: "It is a duty to protest against those who ascend to the Temple Mount, and already the great rabbis and the chief rabbis of Israel have ruled on the severity of the prohibition of ascending the Temple Mount; apart from the prohibition of excision that they cause the masses, there is also an unnecessary and irresponsible provocation of the nations of the world, and this was also the opinion of the great rabbis of the nationalists, and at their head Rav Kook and his son the Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda, who stated that sovereignty of Israel does not nullify Biblical prohibitions."
UTJ leader MK Moshe Gafni added: "The desecration of the sanctity of the Temple Mount and the status quo does not interest Minister Ben-Gvir, who goes against the great rabbis and the chief rabbis of all generations. The damage he is causing to the Jewish people is great beyond measure and he is also causing hatred without cause on the day of the destruction of the Temple. We will have to consult our rabbis as to whether we can be partners with him, and make this clear to the Prime Minister."
MK Benny Gantz Called for additional action by the Prime Minister: "Prime Minister, your ministers, you claim, are acting contrary to your policies on matters that touch directly on the security of the country, and in the most sensitive of times in the face of titanic challenges. You have no confidence in your ministers and they have none in you. Cease the recklessness. It is dangerous to our security and it is a bad message to our enemies - political survival is not more important than the security of the State, a tepid condemnation is not an alternative to immediately revoking the authority of the irresponsible 'National Security' Minister who is busy with provocations and doing nothing but harm."
MK Ahmed Tibi (Hadash-Ta'al) criticized Ben-Gvir: "Ben-Gvir the arsonist and convicted terrorist has resolved to make every provocation to bring about a regional war. The break-in to the Al-Aqsa Mosque today under the guise of 'prayer' is a violation of the status quo and further proof of the effeteness of the Israeli Police officers who are aiding and abetting the law-breaking. The full responsibility falls on Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is allowing the pyromaniac to run amok, all for the sake of his political survival. He is the head, he is responsible. Al-Aqsa will remain and will always remain a mosque for Muslims, holy to all Muslims in the world."
The families of the hostages denounced Ben-Gvir's speech, saying, "Minister Ben-Gvir is repeatedly sabotaging a deal to return the hostages. In his actions and words, Minister Ben-Gvir endangers the hostages and the chance to bring them all home. The abandonment of the hostages, which began on the seventh of October, does not stop. There is no governance, no revival, no pride, and no victory until the last hostage is returned to Israel. All the rest is mere talk and continuation of the abandonment."
Ben-Gvir's staff released a response, clarifying: "The policy of the Minister of National Security is to allow freedom of worship for Jews everywhere, including on the Temple Mount, and Jews will continue to do so in the future. The Temple Mount is sovereign territory in the capital of the State of Israel. There is no law that allows for racial discrimination against Jews on the Temple Mount, or anywhere else in Israel."
The spokesman for the US embassy in Israel commented: "The United States stands firmly on the preservation of the historical status quo with regard to the holy sites in Jerusalem. Any unilateral action that endangers the status quo is unacceptable. We recognize the importance of this holy site, and therefore we call upon all parties to respect the status quo of the site."
The Jordanian Foreign Ministry condemned the incident, saying: "The incursion of two extremist ministers from the Israeli government and Knesset members into the Al-Aqsa Mosque reflects the government's and its extremist members' insistence on ignoring international laws. This requires a clear and unequivocal international position that condemns these violations."