Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir ascended the Temple Mount Sunday morning after refraining from doing so on Jerusalem Day itself, as he had done in previous years. "We are the homeowners here," said Ben Gvir in the mountain compound. "All the threats of Hamas will not help, we are the owners of Jerusalem and the entire Land of Israel."

Ben Gvir, who went up the mountain with the approval of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, praised the activities of the police and said that they are "doing a wonderful job here." He further referred to the coalition crisis surrounding the budgets that will be transferred to the Ministry of the Negev and the Galilee which is in the hands of Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf from his party, and added: "I am happy to go up to the Temple Mount, the most important place for the people of Israel. However, we must remember our brothers in the Negev and the Galilee. In the upcoming budget, we must invest there. Just as Jerusalem is our soul, the Negev, and the Galilee are (also) our soul. We must invest and operate there, and be the owners of the house in the Negev and the Galilee as well. The basis for this is the budget."

Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visits the Temple Mount this morning in #Jerusalem.
No doubt it will be called "a provocation". https://t.co/jr7QaiGWGO

— Lidar Gravé-Lazi (@LidarGL) May 21, 2023

The head of the Temple Mount administration, Rabbi Shimshon Elboim, welcomed Ben Gvir's ascent to the mount, and said that the step "gives meaning to the Six-Day-War famous radio call 'The Temple Mount is in our hands', which recently celebrated its 56th anniversary." According to him, "Minister Ben Gvir has been active since his youth in favor of Jewish immigration to the Temple Mount, and since he took office he has already brought about significant improvements, removing hundreds of harassers and strengthening Israel's rule on the Temple Mount."

On Thursday, before the annual Flag Parade in honor of Jerusalem Day, the head of the Ministry for the Negev and the Galilee, Yitzchak Wasarlauf from Ben Gvir's Otzma Yehudit party, and Ben Gvir’s wife Ayala went up to the mountain. Knesset members from the Likud also came to the place, including Ariel Kellner, Amit Halevi, and Dan Iloz, who sang "Hatikva" during their visit to Mt.

#BREAKING Jordan condemns Ben Gvir visit at Temple Mount, calls it a dangerous escalation https://t.co/3ekp1DZNpB

— Guy Elster (@guyelster) May 21, 2023

Jordan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the move: "We condemn the permission given to a member of the Israeli government and a number of other extremist members of the Knesset to enter the Temple Mount and the Al-Aqsa compound, and the provocative behavior that accompanied them, and all this under the security of the Israeli police."