The United States, Israel’s main ally, has warned of any changes to the arrangements at the site. Speaking last month at a conference of J Street, a liberal Jewish advocacy group that promotes an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said the Biden administration “would unequivocally oppose any action that jeopardizes the prospects of a two-state solution” to the conflict, meaning the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. “Disruption of the historical status quo in holy places” would be such an act, he added.
The new administration’s tough policies could also affect Arab states, even though Israel has forged diplomatic ties with countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco in recent years, and maintained decades-old peace treaties with neighboring Egypt. and Jordan.
King Abdullah II of Jordan said in an interview with DailyExpertNews last week that he was ready to get “into a conflict” if Israel tried to change the status of the holy site in Jerusalem. Following Mr Ben-Gvir’s visit, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said it would “follow it up at all levels”, in consultation with Jordan.
Mr Ben-Gvir, who has a history of provocative acts and has been convicted in the past for inciting racism and supporting a terrorist group, had made no secret of his intention to visit the site as a minister. “The Temple Mount is important, and as I said, I intend to climb it,” he said wrote on Twitter on Sunday, the day he took office.
But the timing of the visit was deliberately blacked out, presumably to prevent Palestinian protesters from gathering at the site to confront him.
Israeli news media reported that Mr Ben-Gvir may be planning to visit the site on Tuesday, a fast day on the Jewish calendar traditionally marked with pilgrimages to Jerusalem. On Monday evening, Mr. Netanyahu met with Mr. Ben-Gvir to discuss the matter, after which the Israeli news media reported that Mr. Ben-Gvir had decided to postpone his visit to an undetermined time in the coming weeks.
Not wanting to be seen as capitulating to threats from Hamas, Mr. Netanyahu’s office issued a statement that evening saying that after consultations with security officials, the prime minister had not asked Mr. Ben-Gvir to refrain from visiting the site.