Israeli defense chief says Ben-Gvir ‘trying to blow up Middle East’

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant accused Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir of “constantly trying to blow up the Middle East.”

The feud erupted in the public eye as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the United States.

“Itamar Ben-Gvir is constantly trying to blow up the Middle East,” Gallant wrote Wednesday on social media. “I categorically reject any ideas of hurting the Status Quo in the holy city of Jerusalem.”

Gallant issued that broadside after Ben-Gvir declared that “Jews pray on the Temple Mount and that’s a good thing,” contravening a long-standing agreement that has empowered an Islamic organization backed by the Jordanian government to oversee the religious sites. It is just the latest example of the hard-right politician attempting to shift government policy in territories controlled by the Israeli government while pressing Netanyahu to annex the Gaza Strip.

“There is a pyromaniac sitting in the Israeli government who is trying to set fire to the Middle East,” Gallant also wrote. “I oppose any negotiations to put him in the war cabinet. This will allow him to realize his plans.”

Ben-Gvir has sought a formal role in setting war policy for months, particularly since the unity war cabinet collapsed in June, when centrist opposition leader Benny Gantz denounced Netanyahu for neglecting to develop a viable plan for Gaza after the war. Netanyahu has struggled to balance Israel’s military objectives against the need to secure the release of the hostages while fending off Ben-Gvir’s demands — and international criticism of Israel that has been fueled in part by reactions to Ben-Gvir’s provocative statements.

“Israel’s policy of maintaining the status quo on the Temple Mount has not changed and will not change,” according to Netanyahu’s office.

Ben-Gvir, for his part, insisted that it “is racism” to ban Jews from praying on the Temple Mount.

“They always tell me ‘political leadership’ is against it,” Ben-Gvir said earlier Wednesday. “I am the political leadership. And the political leadership allows Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount.”

Ben-Gvir also drew criticism from the religious right, as the chief rabbinate also condemns entry to the Temple Mount.

“The ban on Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount is the position of all the great men of Israel for generations,” Israeli Interior Minister Moshe Arbel said Wednesday. “This issue is so explosive, and the great blasphemy committed [by Ben-Gvir] cannot pass quietly.”