The official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation revealed today, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, that the far-right Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, has turned “changing the status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque” into an official goal of his ministry.
The authority said, “The Ministry of National Security included in its annual work plan a goal that sets a controversial precedent, which is to change the status quo on the Temple Mount,” including controlling the mosque and allowing Jews to pray there.
The status quo is the one that prevailed before Israel occupied the city of East Jerusalem in 1967, according to which the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem, affiliated with the Jordanian Ministry of Endowments, is responsible for managing the affairs of the mosque.
But in 2003, the Israeli authorities changed this situation by allowing settlers to storm Al-Aqsa, without the approval of the Islamic Endowments Department, which demands that the raids stop.
The broadcasting authority continued: “Among the tasks specified in the ministry’s work plan for 2024 is to expand the technological component that assists the police, strengthen its formations on the Temple Mount, and implement technological police measures in its surroundings.”
She pointed out that “in the past, this matter sparked strong opposition from the Endowments and Jordanians, and led to Palestinian protests and clashes against the police who tried to install electronic gates at the entrances to the Temple Mount” in 2017.
Also, “among the objectives of the action plan is to strengthen governance on the Temple Mount and prevent discrimination in it, and what is meant here is discrimination against Jews, for whom freedom of worship there is considered restricted,” according to the commission.
She stressed that “Ben Gvir’s (police official)’s positions on the Temple Mount have been known for years, but in an unusual way it has become an official goal for his ministry.”
Officially, the Israeli government says that Muslims have the right to pray in Al-Aqsa Mosque and that non-Muslims have the right to visit it, which Ben Gvir claimed was “discrimination” against Jews.
Since assuming office in December 2022, Ben Gvir, leader of the “Jewish Power” party, has stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque more than once, sparking a wave of global criticism.
