What Does the Israel’s 'Funding' of al-Aqsa Mosque Stormings Imply?

Amidst the ongoing silence and acquiescence from the Arab and Islamic world concerning support for Palestinian resistance in Gaza, the Israeli Occupation has initiated “official actions” to Judaize al-Aqsa Mosque.

Just 24 hours after extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir spoke on August 26, 2024, about building a Jewish temple in the al-Aqsa Mosque area, the Israeli Ministry of Heritage issued an unprecedented official decision to “fund” the incursions of settlers into the sacred site.

The decision, made by Minister Amichay Eliyahu of Ben-Gvir's Jewish Power party, aims to promote “Jewish heritage in a historical form devoid of Palestinian narratives,” essentially amounting to its Judaization.

This marks the first time the Occupation has officially funded such activities at the holy site, according to The Times of Israel on August 27, 2024.

The decision, coupled with Ben-Gvir’s comments on building a Jewish temple and the increasing occurrence of settlers—including ministers and Knesset members—performing what is described as “epic prostration” on al-Aqsa ground, signals a grave shift towards altering the so-called “status quo” in Jerusalem since 1967.

The “status quo” is a term in international law referring to the obligation of the occupying power to maintain things as they are, which applies to the al-Aqsa Mosque, previously under Jordanian control before the 1967 occupation of Jerusalem.

Following the 1967 war and the Israeli occupation of Jerusalem, then War Minister Moshe Dayan agreed with al-Aqsa Endowment related to Jordan to maintain the "status quo."

Falsification of History

On August 27, 2024, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the National Security Council approved a plan by the Ministry of Heritage to officially fund settler incursions into al-Aqsa Mosque.

According to Netanyahu's decision, these incursions will be accompanied by religious guides promoting “Jewish heritage in a historical form devoid of Palestinian narratives,” effectively initiating an official plan to Judaize al-Aqsa through historical revisionism.

The ministry will allocate two million shekels ($543,000) to fund these settler tours, which are expected to begin officially in October 2024, coinciding with the anniversary of Operation al-Aqsa Flood.

The Ministry of Heritage confirmed that the purpose of these visits is to "reinforce and bolster the Old City" of occupied Jerusalem. Based on the government's decision, the Ministry of Heritage intends to organize tours with guides, allowing a large number of Jews and hundreds of thousands of tourists to ascend to the “Temple Mount” (al-Aqsa) for the first time, the ministry stated.

It also aims to “present the Jewish heritage of the Mount in a historically accurate form, free from alternative narratives about Palestinian history that were written to push an agenda hostile to Israel and Jews.”

The Ministry of Heritage seeks to distort the history of occupied Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque and promote Jewish myths to solidify the Israeli Occupation’s narrative about the Mosque.

According to Kan Channel, this decision means that extremist Jewish groups working to demolish al-Aqsa Mosque are no longer marginal. They now receive support from many politicians, rabbis, and organizations, and have backing from within the Knesset, with direct connections to Israeli ministers.

However, The Jerusalem Post reported on August 26 that the Israeli National Security Council denied Kan Channel’s claims about Netanyahu's government funding guided tours at al-Aqsa Mosque for the first time and allocating two million shekels for the project.

“The National Security Council did not approve and was not asked to approve the tours of the Ministry of Heritage on the Temple Mount. Any publication regarding the involvement of the National Security Council in the matter is devoid of any basis,” the National Security Council stated.

Netanyahu has insisted that the “status quo” remains unchanged, despite the controversy and opposition within “Israel,” which argues that such moves could further escalate tensions amid the ongoing aggression against Gaza.

Netanyahu’s office continues to assert that there has been no change in the current situation on al-Aqsa Mosque, meaning “Jewish visits” to the holy site without "prayer," according to the 1967 agreement.

This announcement came despite Itamar Ben-Gvir's public statements advocating for a change in the status quo by allowing Jews to pray at al-Aqsa Mosque. On August 25, 2024, he also expressed his intention to build a Jewish temple within the Mosque.

Each time Ben-Gvir makes such statements, Netanyahu's office promptly responds with assurances that Israeli policy on the status quo remains unchanged, even as the government officially funds settler incursions into al-Aqsa.

The High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens, representing Palestinians in the occupied territories of 1948, claimed that Ben-Gvir's provocations and threats regarding al-Aqsa Mosque are coordinated with Netanyahu.

Israeli analyst Amos Harel wrote in Haaretz on August 27 that “Netanyahu, as usual, expressed opposition, but it's already clear that these two [Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir] are playing a complex game, which includes quite a bit of coordination behind the scenes.”

Harel noted that “ in his efforts to harness media attention to himself, the national security minister is undermining the safety of the public and trying with all his might to set the Middle East on fire. What was checked on the Lebanese border is likely to flare up in the end in Jerusalem.”

The Status Quo

This is the first time Ben-Gvir has proposed establishing a synagogue within al-Aqsa Mosque, following his repeated calls in recent months for Jews to be allowed to pray there.

This is also the second time in two months that Ben-Gvir has asserted that permitting Jews to pray at al-Aqsa is official policy, having made similar claims in June 2024.

The talk of building a Jewish temple at Al-Aqsa coincided with the release of a video by extremist Knesset member Moshe Feiglin, from Zehut Party, discussing the fundamentals of the current conflict. He stated that the current battle is “actually taking place in Jerusalem and at al-Aqsa Mosque” and revealed that the construction of a temple at the holy site is imminent, saying, “I have never felt that we are closer than today to building the Temple.”

Israeli analyst Herb Keinon wrote in the Jerusalem Post on August 27 that Ben-Gvir’s provocative statements about al-Aqsa Mosque represent “a calculated political strategy aimed at maintaining his relevance even during wartime when he is just a bit actor, giving him leverage inside the government, and advancing his ideological agenda.”

Keinon emphasized that when Ben-Gvir publicly challenges Netanyahu by claiming that “Jews now have the right to pray there, that he would like to build a synagogue there, that the Israeli flag should wave proudly on the hill, and that the Heritage Ministry under his party’s direction will fund Jewish education tours at the site for the first time, he knows exactly what he is doing.”

Ben-Gvir’s motivations, according to Keinon, are to assert “greater Jewish sovereignty over the Temple Mount, as both a national and religious imperative,” to claim that Jews have the same right to pray there as Muslims, and to enhance his image as a politician fighting for Jewish rights.

Ben-Gvir’s continuous focus on the al-Aqsa issue is politically advantageous for him, helping to build his strength and popularity in any upcoming elections among the more extreme religious Jewish community.

Keinon notes that what may seem to many as largely irresponsible behavior is, in Ben-Gvir’s view, a well-thought-out political strategy aimed at increasing his influence within the government and advancing his ideological agenda.

On July 24, 2024, Ben-Gvir, as the police chief, announced that Jews would be permitted to pray anywhere within the al-Aqsa. He stated, “I am the political level (i.e., the government) that allows Jews to pray on the Temple Mount,” referring to the holy site that includes the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

Since 1967, many Jewish rabbis have prohibited visiting the al-Aqsa courtyard or praying there for religious reasons. They believe that Jews remain impure since God's anger and must first purify themselves with the ashes of a red heifer. They also fear desecrating the “Holy of Holies,” the supposed location of the Jewish Temple beneath the al-Aqsa Mosque, if Jews are allowed to walk in the courtyard of the al-Aqsa Mosque.

The main elements of the “status quo” historically included prohibiting non-Muslims from praying at the al-Aqsa Mosque. However, the Israeli Occupation took control of the key to the Mughrabi Gate, allowing Jews to pray at the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) and permitting them to visit the holy sanctuary without praying there.

Epic Prostration

Subsequently, the police, effectively under Ben-Gvir’s authority, began allowing settlers to pray in the courtyard of the al-Aqsa Mosque, in violation of the “status quo” agreement, and provided protection for these activities, according to Yedioth Ahronoth on August 21, 2024.

In contrast to the rabbinical belief, the “salvific Haredi” wing of religious Zionism, to which Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich belong, adheres to a more radical interpretation of Jewish redemption and the coming of a messianic redeemer, which they believe will make Jews the leaders of the world and result in “the construction of the Temple on the ruins of the al-Aqsa Mosque.”

These movements of revolutionary or reformist religious Zionists, as well as secular Zionists, view the construction of the Third Temple as the key to solving all Jewish problems and tribulations, especially religious and spiritual ones. They see themselves as “God’s instrument to bring the redeemer closer.”

They believe in “accelerating the end” rather than waiting for “God’s will,” as their rabbis suggest, by hastening the incursions into al-Aqsa and the construction of the Temple, according to a study by Ashraf Badr, a researcher at the Center for Development Studies at Birzeit University, dated May 18, 2022.

During a televised interview with Hebrew Channel2 upon his first arrival at the Knesset in 2016, the leader of the religious Zionism movement, Smotrich, threatened, "We will destroy al-Aqsa Mosque and build the Temple within years [on the mosque’s ruins].”

These developments coincided with Jews and ministers performing what is known as "epic prostration" on the al-Aqsa Mosque grounds collectively. This act involves laying on the mosque's ground as if it were a Jewish synagogue, amidst Ben-Gvir's calls for constructing a synagogue at al-Aqsa and the increasing official moves towards Judaization.

Abdallah Marouf, a professor of Jerusalem Studies and former media and public relations officer at the al-Aqsa Mosque, stated that the significance of this practice lies in the fact that it is a central form of worship in the Temple, which is now being openly performed without restriction or objection.

He noted on X that this specific temple ritual is now being performed daily, both individually and collectively, within the al-Aqsa Mosque, regardless of any particular occasion.

This religious practice has become common in all four corners of the al-Aqsa Mosque, as stipulated by Talmudic texts.

Marouf warned that “this represents a central step in the process of religious replacement at the al-Aqsa Mosque by performing all religious rites and rituals within it, aiming to practically establish the Temple on its grounds."

On June 24, 2024, a conference under the title “Israel's Return to the Temple Mount” was held at the Knesset in partnership with the Temple Organizations Union. The conference aimed to discuss methods for altering the identity of the al-Aqsa Mosque.

It focused on what they claimed were “ways to enforce the religious replacement project at al-Aqsa and the persistent efforts to transform it into a Temple.”

The conference was convened at the invitation of Ben-Gvir and Knesset member Yitzhak Kroizer from his party, in collaboration with the Temple Organizations Union, which manages incursions into the al-Aqsa Mosque and attempts to impose religious rituals there.

As part of the preparations for establishing the Temple, on August 7, 2024, a group of religious Israelis was seen performing “red heifer rituals” to herald the imminent construction of a new Jewish Temple on the site of al-Aqsa Mosque, according to Middle East Eye.