Ben-Gvir’s Aqsa visit ‘puts Israel in fight with half of world’: Lapid
JERUSALEM (AA) – Former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid has criticized the visit of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to the al-Aqsa Mosque complex in East Jerusalem.
“In order to allow Ben-Gvir to enjoy 13 minutes on the Temple Mount (Al-Aqsa Mosque complex), Israel was put in a fight with half of the world,” said Lapid, who is now the opposition leader.
The former premier said Ben-Gvir’s tour was “irresponsible on a national scale and only emphasizes the weakness of (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu in the face of his ministers.”
On Tuesday, the minister entered the flashpoint site, a day after announcing he postponed the visit amid warnings of unrest.
The visit drew Palestinian and international condemnations, including from the US, Jordan, Türkiye, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world’s third-holiest site. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move never recognized by the international community.
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