Will decision to block Jewish access to Temple Mount have political ramifications?

The government’s far-right flank, the Religious Zionist Party and Otzma Yehudit, have a problem.

Last year, they consistently and harshly criticized the Bennett-Lapid government for being weak on security and being controlled by the Islamic Brotherhood. But if the previous government’s hands were tied by “terror supporters” and it could not deal effectively with terror, what is wrong with the current government, whose responses to terror attacks and rockets from Gaza and Lebanon have been relatively tame – despite its hands being free?

This problem repeated itself on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announcing his decision to block Jews’ entry to the Temple Mount until the end of Ramadan next Friday, April 21. Otzma and RZP slammed the previous government for making an identical decision last year: What are they to do now?

The two parties responded differently to the decision.

Otzma leader and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Tuesday expressed his disappointment and criticized Netanyahu in a statement.

The decision was a “severe mistake that will not bring quiet, but only deteriorate the situation,” Ben-Gvir wrote, since it would decrease the Israel Police’s presence on the site and thus create “fertile ground for giant incitement rallies to kill Jews, and even a scenario of stone-throwing at Jewish worshipers at the Temple Mount.”

While the decision came after the IDF, Mossad, Shin Bet, and Israel Police all recommended that the site remain closed, Ben-Gvir said earlier this week that a “very senior security official” agreed with him. In any case, both of them were ignored.

Ynet quoted sources close to Ben-Gvir as saying on Thursday that he was also angry over what he claimed were “soft” responses to the rocket attacks from Gaza and Lebanon, but that despite his dissatisfaction with Netanyahu’s decisions, he has no intention to topple or leave the government.

Considered to be the government’s “loose cannon,” Ben-Gvir is widely expected to be the one who will eventually bring it down in order to approach the next election from the opposition.

The national security minister dangled the threat to quit the government the day Netanyahu announced a legislation freeze (March 27) over its controversial judicial reforms, agreeing to stay on after the prime minister committed to form a committee that would examine the formation of a National Guard.

Ben Gvir committed to forming National Guard

Ben-Gvir has repeated this commitment many times since then, in what likely is an attempt to prove to his voters that he is acting on his campaign promises to ensure personal safety throughout the country. The national security minister’s latest mention of this was during a march to the illegal Evyatar outpost on Monday, which drew criticism from the opposition for having the IDF allocate a battalion to guard the march. A National Guard could provide solutions in such situations, he said, leaving the IDF free to pursue terrorists.

The National Guard promise seems to have placated Ben-Gvir for the time being, so much so that issues that are key to him – such as Jewish ascension to the Temple Mount – led him to issue a public statement criticizing the prime minister, but nothing more.

The Religious Zionist Party’s ministers, on the other hand – especially Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Missions Minister Orit Struck – remained uncharacteristically silent. The two are likely aware of the potential backfire of criticizing a government that they sit in for its position on security – especially Smotrich, who is also a minister within the Defense Ministry.

Some ex-Yamina members picked up on this, as they received scathing criticism from Smotrich and others for making the same decision last year regarding the last 10 days of Ramadan at the Temple Mount.

For example, National Unity MK Matan Kahana needled the RPZ leader, pointing out a statement that Smotrich himself made in 2022: “To close the Temple Mount to Jews until the end of Ramadan is a foolish security and diplomatic [decision] that serves as de-facto admission to the Arab lie as if the Jews are responsible for the current deterioration.”

Former interior minister and Yamina MK Ayelet Shaked also goaded Smotrich, who last year wrote that “there were times when Shaked understood perfectly well that surrender to terror on the Temple Mount is dangerous.”

Smotrich, and especially Struck, made extra efforts in media interviews and social media posts earlier this month to strike a balance between taking responsibility for the security deterioration on the one hand, and explaining why it was happening under their watch and what they were doing to stop it on the other.

Their silence on the Temple Mount decision therefore suggests that they may be reevaluating their strategy. It would not be a surprise if the two shift to an approach closer to Ben-Gvir: Back Netanyahu on security decisions only in exchange for political concessions.

Still, neither Otzma Yehudit nor the Religious Zionist Party seems close to jeopardizing the government. Acclaimed Middle East, Islam, and Arab Affairs reporter and analyst Ehud Ya’ari put it succinctly in a Channel 12 panel last week: When a person reaches the government, his or her seat becomes sticky – and it can take quite a lot for either party to leave it.