Jerusalem clashes endanger Bennett coalition
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s governing coalition faced new obstacles on Thursday over clashes between police and Palestinians on the Temple Mount that angered the Ra’am (United Arab List) Party.
Two policemen were hurt and 21 Palestinian rioters were arrested, as Jews returned to the Mount following the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday after it was closed to them for two weeks. An estimated 1,000
Jews ascended the Mount on Thursday.
The last time there were clashes on the holy site, Ra’am froze its membership in the coalition and warned that the party would take more drastic steps if the police returned to al-Aqsa Mosque. Now, members of the party’s governing Shura Council want to leave permanently ahead of the spring session of the Knesset that starts on Monday.
“What happened at al-Aqsa this morning is a slap in the face to Ra’am,” Shura Council member Masud Ghnaim, who was an MK for a decade, told the Arabic Nas Radio. “The time has come to shift from freezing to leaving this coalition that does not respect us. It has become a unilateral relationship and we cannot let it continue this way. We will leave the coalition and come back to the embrace of our people.”
Ghnaim blamed the escalation on Yamina politicians Ayelet Shaked, Nir Orbach and Yomtob Kalfon, who praised opening the Temple
Mount to Jews for Independence Day on social media. Kalfon even boasted that he persuaded Bennett to make the decision.
“I coordinated with the prime minister to enable the opening of the Mount on Independence Day, and I myself had the honor of ascending,” Kalfon wrote on Twitter.
Kalfon was heckled by rightwing activists who shouted at him that he “sits with Hamas in the government” and “history will not forget your betrayal.”
Shaked bragged about a record number of Jews visiting the site over the past year.
Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas, who is abroad on a family vacation, had intended to end the freeze and gradually return to the coalition. He met with Bennett and Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid and agreed on a timetable for the return.
But Abbas’s opponents in Ra’am are pressuring the
being quickly removed by police.
Police stressed that they worked to secure and maintain order on the Temple Mount on Thursday, as dozens of Arab rioters began shouting slogans and disturbing the public • order. The rioters were soon pushed into the Qibli building at al-Aqsa, where they threw objects at police, shouted and slammed on the doors in an attempt to frighten Jewish visitors.
The Jews present largely ignored the riots and shouting and continued singing despite repeated police requests to stop.
Police warned against attempts by terrorist organizations and other parties to spread incitement and “fake news” concerning the situation on the Temple Mount. “These are false publications that have no grip on reality and are published to deceive the public, escalate and incite,” a police representative said.
Yamina MK Yomtob Kalfon and former Likud MK Yehuda Glick were among the visitors to the site on Thursday. Glick is the head of Haliba, “The project for Jewish freedom on the Temple Mount.”
Hamas spokesperson Abdel Latif Al-Qanou warned on Tuesday that if Jews were allowed to enter the site on Thursday, it would be a “detonator for a new confrontation” with Israel. He called on Arabs and Palestinians to arrive at the Temple Mount to confront Jewish visitors. The movement warned on Wednesday that Israel was “playing with fire and dragging the region into an escalation, for which the occupation bears full responsibility.”
Despite the drastic increase in open Jewish prayer, the singing of the national anthem and the waving of the Israeli flag – all of which the Palestinian factions had called “red lines” – Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh stated on Wednesday afternoon that Arabs at the site had “defeated” the Jews who visited, saying they entered the site with “fear” and “were disgraced.”
A large Hamas banner featuring a greeting for Eid al-Fitr and a photo of a Hamas terrorist was raised on the Temple Mount on Monday morning, as more than 200,000 Arabs visited the site to celebrate the end of the Ramadan month of fasting. The banner was removed shortly after it was raised and one of the people responsible for raising it was arrested later said, “will not allow Hamas to take control of the mosque.”
According to the official, Israel and Jordan are close to reaching an understanding on the Wakf Islamic religious trust’s responsibilities, including the hiring of new guards. The Wakf has sought to increase the number of its guards and replace many others who retired over the past two years. A senior Wakf official had complained that Israel refused to approve the new appointments unless they pass security clearance by Israeli authorities.
Meanwhile, Ahmed Ruwaidi, an adviser for Jerusalem affairs at the PA president’s office, said that the Palestinians are opposed to any interference by Israeli authorities in the management of the Aqsa Mosque compound.
Ruwaidi stressed the need to preserve the existing historical and legal situation at the site, and to respect Jordan’s role as guardian of the Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.
Earlier Thursday, clashes broke out between Arab visitors and Israeli security forces at the Temple Mount, as 950 Jews visited the site on Independence Day after a near two-week closure.
Arab rioters threw stones and other objects at police, lightly injuring two officers, as security forces guarded the Jewish visitors. Arabs at the site shouted and cursed at the Jewish visitors.
According to the Temple Mount Administration, the number of Jewish visitors was nearly four times larger than the number on the Independence Day before the coronavirus outbreak.
Groups repeatedly refused to listen to police instructions and sang prayers and the Israeli national anthem “Hatikva.” This was despite repeated requests by officers to follow police regulations that forbid noticeable prayer and any national symbols. Some activists also succeeded in waving Israeli flags at the site before
in the day, according to police.
Hamas’s leader in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, warned Israel against “attacking” al-Aqsa Mosque, claiming that the movement would fire a barrage of 1,111 rockets in the next conflict with Israel.
“Our people and our nation must prepare for a big battle if the occupation does not stop attacking al-Aqsa Mosque,” said Sinwar. “Harming al-Aqsa and Jerusalem means a regional war, and we will not hesitate to take any decision with our sanctities.”
The Hamas leader addressed the other Palestinian factions in Gaza, saying that they must be on alert “because the battle did not end with the end of Ramadan, but will really begin with its end.”