National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir ascended the Temple Mount on the eve of Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) and participated in the Mincha afternoon prayer service together with Rabbi Elisha Wolfson, head of the Temple Mount Yeshiva, married yeshiva students, and other worshipers.
During the service, Ben Gvir and the worshipers began singing, "Sha'arei Shamayim P'tach," (lit. "open the gates of Heaven").
On Yom Kippur itself, the Temple Mount opened at 6:30 a.m., and hundreds of Jews ascended the site. The Temple Mount Yeshiva prepared full prayer books that had been approved by police and distributed them to worshipers.
The prayers were led by Rabbi Eliyahu Weber, head of the Temple Mount Yeshiva. According to the yeshiva, more than 200 people prayed together for approximately four hours. A total of 654 Jewish ascents to the Temple Mount were recorded over Yom Kippur.
Temple Mount activist Arnon Segal commented on the prayers and the change regarding the admission of prayer sheets and books to the site.
"Anyone who did not see hundreds of Jews prostrating themselves this morning on the Temple Mount while reciting the Temple service has not seen the redemption of Israel advancing by leaps and bounds," Segal wrote.
"On Yom Kippur last year, 50 Jews were detained, arrested, or barred for bringing in prayer sheets - and this year the police themselves distributed prayer books printed by the Temple Mount Yeshiva. We are moving forward. A year of redemption!" he added.
Rabbi Wolfson blessed Ben Gvir during the visit, saying: "We are here with our dear Minister Itamar, who is truly bringing about an enormous, moving, and joyous historic change here. How much we prayed for this, and now we have merited to see it. Great things still lie ahead of us. We bless you greatly - may you act and succeed!"