Senior rabbis condemn Ben Gvir's Temple Mount visit in Arabic to calm Arab Jerusalemites amid international outcry

Rabbi's statement published on Arabic-language website

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Following international outrage and sharp internal criticism, senior rabbis joined the broad condemnation of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir after he ascended the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Tuesday and championed Jewish prayer rights on the site.

Under the status quo governing the site since Israel captured eastern Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War, only Muslims have the right to carry out religious ceremonies on Islam’s third-most holy site, the Al-Aqsa Mosque at the Temple Mount.

More than 1,500 Israeli Jews ascended the Temple Mount on Tuesday morning during the extra-biblical fast of Tisha B’Av. Ben Gvir and his party colleague Yitzhak Wasserlauf, Israel's Negev, Galilee and National Resilience minister.

Dozens were filmed fully prostrating themselves and praying openly, with Ben Gvir later declaring it was his policy to allow Jewish prayer. Like the previous two times, the Prime Minister’s Office quickly condemned the move and emphasized the status quo remained unchanged.

Following outraged statements from the Arab world and condemnations by Western diplomats, several senior rabbis joined the fray on Wednesday, reiterating the traditional Jewish legal position that Jews may not even enter the holy site.

In a joint statement, five prominent Jerusalem-based rabbis – former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel Yitzhak Yosef, and Rabbis Avigdor Nebenzahl, Shmuel Betzalel, Simcha Rabinowitz and David Cohen – condemned Ben Gvir’s actions.

The video was posted to an Arabic-language website with Arabic subtitles. Ynet News reported that this action followed requests from Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion and security officials, who sought to alleviate tensions among the Arab population in East Jerusalem.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews believe the Temple Mount site should not be visited until the restoration of the Jewish priesthood and until the required ritual purification – using the biblical water of purification made from the ashes of a red heifer – is possible again.

Rabbi Yosef said, “Don’t view the ministers in question as representing the People of Israel. They don’t.” To “the nations of the world,” he added: “Please calm things down. We all believe in one God, we want peace between the nations. We mustn’t let radical fringes lead us.”

The Israeli Knesset’s ultra-Orthodox parties sharply criticized Ben Gvir as well, and an influential newspaper aligned with United Torah Judaism (UTJ) even called on the party to consider leaving the government over Ben Gvir’s move which it said had “endangered Jewish lives.”

Numerous Western diplomats condemned the move in extraordinarily strong terms, citing the dangers of Ben Gvir’s “provocative visit.”

The French Foreign Ministry said the “new provocation” was “unacceptable,” and added a call for a two-state solution to the conflict.

Newly-elected British Foreign Minister David Lammy “strongly” condemned the visit, adding that “such actions undermine the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan’s role as custodian of the sites and the longstanding Status Quo arrangements.”

Germany’s foreign ministry issued a condemnation, saying it expected “the Israeli government to put a stop to such deliberate provocations. Particularly in the current tense regional situation, such a provocation is irresponsible and further endangers an already fragile security situation.”