Israel’s ambassador to the U.N. lambasted the organization for calling a meeting to discuss an Israeli official’s visit to a Jerusalem holy site.
“Minister Ben-Gvir’s recent visit to the Temple Mount was not an incursion into al-Aqsa or any other fabrication that the Palestinians branded his visit as,” Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan said during a blistering speech to the U.N. Security Council, Thursday. “Minister Ben-Gvir’s visit was in line with the status quo, and whoever claims otherwise is only enflaming the situation.”
Erdan also proclaimed that “Jews are allowed to visit the Temple Mount. Every Jew!”
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the Temple Mount or Haram al Sharif, a sacred place for both Jewish and Muslim peoples, respectively. His visit, recorded by video, included a pointed moment in which he stared into the camera and said, “We don’t give in. We don’t surrender. We don’t blink” – a reference to the Jewish claim to the site – according to the Washington Post.
FIGHT OVER JERUSALEM’S TEMPLE MOUNT HOLY SITE: WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT TO JEWS, MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS?
One Israeli lawmaker accused Ben Gvir of “goading the entire world” with his actions, which stirred protests across the Arab world and raised concerns among Western nations that Israel might not abide by long-held understandings about access to such sites.
Israel’s new far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visiting Al-Aqsa compound, saying the holy site should be open for all religions and that Israel “Will not give in to Hamas.”
(Reuters)
Ben-Gvir broke no laws, but Jewish people hold that it is forbidden to go to the Temple Mount, also known as “the place of the Holy of Holies.”
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The visit prompted representatives of the United Arab Emirates to call for a U.N. Security Council urgent session over the visit,…
