Wasserlauf Urges Jews to Visit Temple Mount Ahead of Jerusalem Day
Wasserlauf, a member of Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party, visited the Temple Mount on Tuesday before the start of Jerusalem Day, which begins Thursday evening. He said he had gone to the site “to give thanks for the miracles and to pray for the people of Israel, for IDF soldiers, and for the recovery of all the wounded.”
Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf called on Jews to visit the Temple Mount ahead of Jerusalem Day, praising what he described as a “revolution” led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir at the contested holy site.
Wasserlauf, a member of Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party, visited the Temple Mount on Tuesday before the start of Jerusalem Day, which begins Thursday evening. He said he had gone to the site “to give thanks for the miracles and to pray for the people of Israel, for IDF soldiers, and for the recovery of all the wounded.”
The minister urged the public to visit the site and see what he called the change in Jewish access and worship there.
“I call upon all the people of Israel to ascend the Temple Mount and see with their own eyes the revolution led by Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on the mount,” Wasserlauf said. “Jews no longer walk around the mount like thieves and no longer need to hide.”
He added that it was moving to see Jews praying and prostrating at the site, which he described as “the holiest site for the Jewish people.”
The Temple Mount, located in Jerusalem’s Old City, is the holiest site in Judaism as the location of the two biblical temples. Muslims refer to the site as the Noble Sanctuary, and it houses Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam.
Under the long-standing arrangement known as the status quo, Jews may visit the Temple Mount but are not officially permitted to pray there. In practice, however, Jewish prayer has become increasingly tolerated by police in recent years, particularly under Ben Gvir, whose ministry oversees the Israel Police.
Ben Gvir has repeatedly said that his policy is to allow Jewish prayer at the site, despite repeated statements by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the status quo remains unchanged. The issue has drawn criticism from US and international officials, as well as warnings from Israel’s security establishment that changes at the Temple Mount could inflame tensions and pose risks to national security.
In January, police allowed Jewish visitors to ascend the Temple Mount with printed prayer sheets, marking another challenge to the formal ban on non-Muslim prayer at the site.
Wasserlauf’s remarks are likely to add to renewed debate over the government’s handling of the Temple Mount ahead of Jerusalem Day, when nationalist marches and visits to sensitive sites often draw heightened security attention.