Gallant calls Ben Gvir “an arsonist” and opposes his inclusion in a new war cabinet

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Ben Gvir prays on the Temple Mount and encourages other Jews to do so, while Netanayhu denies any change to the ‘status quo’

24 (EUROPA PRESS)

Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has warned that there is an “arsonist” in Benjamin Netanyahu’s government who should not be allowed to serve on any kind of body responsible for managing the war situation, alluding indirectly to the Minister of National Security, the ultra-nationalist Itamar Ben Gvir.

“Sitting in the Israeli government is an arsonist who is trying to set the Middle East on fire. I oppose any negotiations to include him in the war cabinet, as this would allow him to carry out his plans,” Gallant said in a brief post on his official profile on the social network X, formerly known as Twitter.

The defense minister’s remarks come after Netanyahu dissolved the war cabinet following the departure of Benny Gantz from the National Unity party. There are now new rumors that the president may be in negotiations with Ben Gvir to include him in a new coordinating body to manage the war.

In fact, Ben Gvir has responded to Gallant’s veiled criticism and his refusal – and that of Aryeh Deri, leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas, Netanyahu’s coalition partner – to allow him to participate in decisions regarding the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli military offensive has already left more than 39,100 dead.

Ben Gvir has thus labelled Gallant and Deri as “leftists” and as having a mistaken concept of state security. He has also accused them of “fighting for a reckless agreement and an end to the war,” according to information collected by the local newspaper ‘The Times of Israel’.

“This is why this couple opposes my entry into the limited forum: because my perception is that decisive results must be sought both in the south and in the north, and the hostages must be returned, but not through surrender, but through military pressure and decisive actions,” he said.

‘STATU QUO’ OF THE ESPLANADE OF THE MOSQUES

Hours earlier, Ben Gvir himself had been the protagonist of a new controversy after stating that he had prayed on the Esplanade of the Mosques and encouraged the Jewish population to do the same, thus going against the ‘status quo’ that has existed in the area for decades and which the Israeli government itself defends.

“I am the political hierarchy, and the political hierarchy allows people to pray on the Temple Mount,” Ben Gvir said at a press conference, where he celebrated that “today many people enter the place, surround it with pride and pray.” “That is how it should be,” he stressed.

However, Netanyahu has had to come out and deny that there has been any change in the status quo on the Temple Mount. “It has not changed and will not change,” the Prime Minister’s Office said. Other members of the coalition have also criticised Ben Gvir for his stance on the matter.

Along the same lines, Gallant has launched a new post on his social media where, now directly quoting Ben Gvir, he accuses him of “constantly trying to blow up the Middle East.” “I categorically reject any idea of ​​damaging the ‘status quo’ in the holy city of Jerusalem,” he asserted.

Israel took control of the Temple Mount and the rest of Jerusalem’s Old City during the Six-Day War (1967). However, it allowed Jordan to retain religious authority there and, under the peace agreement, recognized Jordan’s “special role” over “Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem.”

The Esplanade of the Mosques rests on one of its sides on the Wailing Wall, the last vestige of the Jewish Temple of Solomon, which is why Muslims fear that Israel will destroy the Al Aqsa Mosque to build a Third Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.