(LifeSiteNews) – Israeli nationalist politician Itamar Ben-Gvir has again “stormed” the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, also known Temple Mount, in violation of agreements between Israel and Jordan.
Videos published by Arabic news outlets show the National Security Minister praying at the foot of the steps of the Dome of the Rock, singing and raising his hands.
اقتحم وزير الأمن القومي الإسرائيلي، المتطرف إيتمار بن غفير، المسجد الأقصى برفقة مجموعة من المستوطنين، وأدّوا طقوسًا تلمودية داخل باحاته pic.twitter.com/5TtAmZVYTw
— موقع عرب 48 (@arab48website) April 12, 2026
Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem and performed rituals under heavy security, in a move widely viewed as highly provocative given the site’s religious significance and political sensitivity pic.twitter.com/kgysKeYrer
— HatsOff (@HatsOffff) April 13, 2026
“Today you feel like the master of the house here,” Ben Gvir said in a video with Rabbi Elisha Wolfson of Temple Mount Yeshiva. “I keep pressing the prime minister to do more and more and more things. We must go even further, higher and higher.”
El Ministro de Seguridad Nacional, Itamar Ben-Gvir, ascendió esta mañana al Monte del Templo junto con el director de la Yeshivá del Monte del Templo, el rabino Elisha Wolfson:
“Sabes, rabino, me acordé de cuando entré aquí a los 14/15 años, qué cambio tan completo es. En aquel… pic.twitter.com/Iz7nCAk8u5
— Radio Jai (@fmjai) April 12, 2026
The politician has repeatedly been associated with groups “storming” Temple Mount before and after October 7, 2023, and has called for the construction of a synagogue on the site.
Such calls come amidst a growing movement to establish the Third Temple on Temple Mount.
US Secretary for War Pete Hegseth has expressed hope for this to happen soon, stating that “there is no reason why the miracle of the reestablishment of the Temple on the Temple Mount is not possible.”
2018: US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth talks about the ‘miracle’ of reconstructing the 3rd Temple of Solomon.
This is straight up blasphemy.pic.twitter.com/EI8YZMvnnd— The Honey Badger (@Nance726) March 4, 2026
In addition, various groups are advocating the building of such a Temple. Israel’s Temple Institute “is dedicated to all aspects of the Divine commandment for Israel to build a house for G-d’s presence, the Holy Temple, on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem.” The Institute’s “statement of principles” states that its goal is “to restore Temple consciousness” and thereby “participate in the process that will lead to the Holy Temple becoming a reality once more.”
The Temple Institute is also responsible for the “Red Heifer Project”, which aims to breed the specific type of cow needed for the establishment of the Temple. This project is supported by some Evangelical Christians, who believe that this will bring about both the Antichrist and the second coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
In addition, the Hasidic group Chabad-Lubavitch has made expressions of hope and urgency for this rebuilding a central aspect of its movement. The Chabad website states:
[C]onstruction of the Third Temple is not just another element of the ingathering of the exiles. It’s the key.
Successful rebuilding of this temple is treated as the sign of the coming of the “Moshiach” – the Messiah for whom the Jewish people claim to be waiting. Many Catholic theologians and mystics have held that the man accepted as the Moshiach in this way will be the Antichrist.
The Palestine News & Info Agency Wafa reported that Hussein Ibrahim Taha, Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), had condemned the party led by Ben-Gvir as “a deliberate and dangerous provocation of the feelings of Muslims worldwide.”
Taha also “warned of the danger of the continuation of these Israeli violations,” which he said were part of Israel’s “plans” to “alter the geographic and demographic makeup of occupied Jerusalem, undermine the historical and legal status quo of the holy sites in the city, and attempt to divide the Al-Aqsa Mosque both temporally and spatially, in flagrant violation of international law and relevant United Nations resolutions.”
Wafa also reported the Palestinian Authority’s Presidency’s condemnation of the visit, which it described as “a blatant violation of the historical and legal status quo at the holy site, a desecration of its sanctity, and a dangerous escalation and unacceptable provocation.”
The Times of Israel attributed a similar statement to the Jordanian Foreign Ministry.
The “status quo” refers to agreements with the Jerusalem Waqf (responsible for managing the site), under which groups of Jews are allowed to enter the Islamic site as long as they do not pray there. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in January 2025 that it was “committed to strictly maintaining the status quo, without changes on the Temple Mount.”
However, this was in the context of Ben-Gvir’s policing policy that would “allow prayer, including full prostration.”
“The changes Ben-Gvir is making are not changing the status quo and it is in coordination with me,” Netanyahu said when asked about the policy. “I decide on the policy.” Netanyahu’s coalition government depends on the support of the Otzma Yehudit (“Jewish Power”) Party.
Ben-Gvir himself is about to face a High Court hearing on Wednesday in response to a court petition calling for his dismissal as a government minister. The petition called the High Court to fire Ben-Gvir over his “unlawful interference” in “police investigations, promotions and the policing of protests.” Israeli police are responsible for enforcing access to the Al Aqsa compound and its security.
Netanyahu has claimed that the court petitions against Ben-Gvir should be “rejected out of hand” because the High Court “has no constitutional right to dismiss a government minister due to the substance of his role, the way he acts within his ministry and in the name of his administrative decisions.”
Ben-Gvir has reportedly “stormed” the site at least 16 times since he took office in 2022. Hamas’ October 7 assault on Israel in 2023 was named “Operation Al Aqsa Flood” and took place after a period of increased tensions in which “ultra-nationalist Jewish groups” had been forcing their way past Al-Aqsa’s security and trying to perform what authorities called religious “Talmudic Rituals.”