JERUSALEM – Israeli National Security Minister visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem on Sunday, despite repeated condemnations from Arab countries.
“Today I feel like the landlord here,” Ben-Gvir said in a video released by his office.
The visit came about a week after a similar appearance by the far-right, pro-settler minister and amid heightened regional tensions. His repeated visits to the contested site have often triggered diplomatic protests and warnings that they could inflame violence.
Under a decades-old status quo arrangement, Jews are allowed to visit the hilltop compound but are not permitted to pray there. The site is administered by a Jordanian Islamic trust, known as the Jerusalem Waqf. Muslims regard Al-Aqsa as Islam’s third-holiest shrine, while Jews revere the area as the Temple Mount, believed to be the location of two ancient Jewish temples.
Ben-Gvir has repeatedly called for allowing Jewish prayer at the compound, a position widely seen as challenging the status quo. Critics, including Arab governments and Palestinian leaders, say such moves risk further escalating tensions at one of the region’s most sensitive religious sites.