Temple Mount is in our hands, Israeli Minister says
The national security minister raised the Israeli flag on the Temple Mount, while his allies called "to get rid of all the mosques" to make way for the Third Temple.
On May 15, 2026, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and MK Yitzhak Kroizer visited the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where they unfurled the Israeli national flag, The Times of Israel reports.
During the visit, the minister said that thanks to the authorities’ policy of resolve and deterrence, they had managed to “restore governance” over the holy site. According to Ben-Gvir, this year has been the quietest for the city. He declared: “The Temple Mount is in our hands!”
Participants in the action danced and sang with the flag near the Dome of the Rock. Yitzhak Kroizer, who accompanied the minister, posted a photo on social media of himself praying at the holy site and issued a statement: “The time has come to get rid of all the mosques and work to construct the Temple!” the lawmaker wrote.
Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf, for his part, called on Israelis to visit the Mount en masse in order to consolidate the “revolution” being carried out by Ben-Gvir.
Despite the official ban on Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount under the current status quo, police under Ben-Gvir’s authority have increasingly encouraged such actions. The national security minister has repeatedly rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demands to uphold the previous arrangements.
At the same time, Israeli security services warn that changing the rules at the site, where the Al-Aqsa Mosque is located, poses a direct threat to national security.
The UOJ earlier reported that around 150 Israelis had entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem.
