Status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque ‘will not change’: Netanyahu

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that the status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque "has not changed and will not change," contradicting statements made by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

In a statement from his, Netanyahu said “the status quo on the Temple Mount (Al-Aqsa Mosque) has not changed and will not change,” according to several Israeli media outlets including the Haaretz and Yedioth Ahronoth newspapers and Channel 12.

Earlier in the day, Ben-Gvir said in an interview with Israeli Army Radio on what Tel Aviv calls "Jerusalem Day," which commemorates the occupation of its eastern part in 1967: "I am happy that Jews ascended (entered) the Temple Mount (Al-Aqsa Mosque) and prayed there today.”

He urged Jews to pray "publicly" at Al-Aqsa Mosque, which constitutes a "violation" of its existing status since before the occupation, which Israel claims to maintain.

According to Haaretz, “this is the first time that the Israeli minister responsible for security on the Temple Mount/Al Aqsa has publicly deviated from the site's prevailing status quo, which prohibits Jews from praying there.”

The status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque is the situation that existed before Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, under which the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, affiliated with the Jordanian Ministry of Endowments, is responsible for managing the mosque's affairs.

However, in 2003, Israeli authorities changed this status by allowing settlers to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque without the approval of the Islamic Waqf, which demands an end to these incursions.

Israel says it “respects the status quo” at Al-Aqsa Mosque, a claim denied by the Islamic Waqf, which has repeatedly asserted in recent years that Israel "violates the historical and legal status quo of the mosque" by unilaterally allowing settlers to enter it.

According to Haaretz, Israeli police enforced the ban for years and even filed indictments for "conduct that is liable to cause a breach of public order.”

The newspaper noted that in recent years, “especially during when Police Maj.-Gen. Doron Turgeman served as the Jerusalem District commander, there was a change on the ground, and Jewish pilgrims began praying silently at the site and even held prayers at its eastern edge, while the police ignored them.”

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala