In violation of status quo, minister and Jewish Power party head Ben Gvir leads open prayers on the Temple Mount

National Security Minister and Jewish Power party leader Itamar Ben Gvir ascended to the Temple Mount on Sunday morning, leading prayers on Tisha B’Av, one of the most significant fast days in the Jewish calendar besides Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). 

During his visit to the Temple Mount, Ben Gvir released a statement in which he said the Israeli response to the Hamas propaganda videos of hostages Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David should be to “conquer the entire Gaza Strip and encourage voluntary emigration.” 

"Just as we have proven that it is possible to govern on the Temple Mount, we can conquer the entire Gaza Strip and encourage voluntary emigration. This should be the response to Hamas' horror videos," Ben Gvir stated. 

Ben Gvir also led Shacharit (morning) prayers on the Temple Mount, the first time that a government minister has led prayers at the location or engaged in such an open act of religious devotion.

According to the status quo agreement, Jewish religious acts, such as chanting, singing prayers, and bowing down, are prohibited within the Al Aqsa Mosque compound at the top of the Temple Mount area, which also includes the Dome of the Rock. 

ערוץ 7: תיעוד מהר הבית - השר איתמר בן גביר הוביל את התפילה, עשרות רקדו ושרו.
🔅זירה פוליטית‼️ pic.twitter.com/VvyhrXC90c

— 🔅 זירה פוליטית‼ (@Zira_politit) August 3, 2025

Ben Gvir also released a statement on Telegram, saying, “National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ascended the Temple Mount this morning for the Tisha B'Av fast, and prayed there for Israel's complete victory in the war, and the safe return of all our hostages to their homes.” 

Following Ben Gvir’s ascent to the Temple Mount and the conducting of prayers there, several Arab nations expressed outrage at the violation of the status quo, slamming it as inflammatory behavior. 

#Statement | The Foreign Ministry expresses the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s condemnation in the strongest terms of the repeated provocative practices by officials of the Israeli occupation authorities against Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Kingdom affirms that such practices fuel the conflict… pic.twitter.com/SWubIeWvaQ

— Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) August 3, 2025

The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement later Sunday morning, stating, “Israel's policy of maintaining the status quo on the Temple Mount has not changed and will remain unchanged.” 

Since joining the coalition government, Ben Gvir has repeatedly visited the Temple Mount and called for Jewish prayer at the site. He ascended on Tisha B'Av in 2023, and again in 2024. The status quo, in place since Israel retook the eastern part of Jerusalem from the Kingdom of Jordan during the Six Day War, allows Jews to visit the upper courtyard area of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, but not to pray there. 

While previous groups of Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount have engaged in prayers over the years, they have often been stopped and removed by Israeli police. That began to change after Ben Gvir took oversight of the Israel Police as part of his portfolio. He instructed Israeli police to cease interrupting Jewish worshippers from praying on the site. 

The so-called "Temple Mount Administration", a group of Jewish activists facilitating Jewish pilgrimages to the mount, stated that this year saw a new record number of over 3,500 Jewish pilgrims on the site, an increase of some 32%.

On Sunday morning, Ben Gvir took his policy of promoting Jewish worship on the site one step further by participating in and leading the prayers himself. 

Even within Israel, many were swift to condemn the action, with some anti-government protesters and online activists accusing Ben Gvir of starting the Oct. 7, 2023, Gaza war by his repeated visits to the site, which were often protested by Hamas. 

However, despite Hamas’ naming the operation Al-Aqsa Flood, documents recovered during the war show that Hamas began planning the war long before Ben Gvir came to the government, and the terror group has frequently presented themselves as the “defender of Al-Aqsa” in order to gain support from Palestinians and Arabs around the world.