Israel to fund educational tours on Temple Mount

(JNS) — The Israeli government will finance Jewish educational tours on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount for the first time, “to strengthen and stabilize the Old City,” Israel’s Kan public broadcaster reported on Monday night.

According to the report, the Prime Minister’s Office and the National Security Council approved the Heritage Ministry’s plan to provide state-funded guided tours of the holiest site in Judaism.

A total of 2 million shekels ($543,338) will be allocated for the program from the budget of the office of Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyah of the Otzma Yehudit Party.

However, the NSC issued a statement denying any involvement.

“The National Security Agency did not approve and was not asked to approve the Heritage Ministry’s tours of the Temple Mount. Any publication regarding the involvement of the NSC in the matter is devoid of any foundation,” it said.

The PMO clarified that “there is no change in the status quo on the Temple Mount.”

Ramallah condemned the reported plan, saying it could “lead to an explosion.”

“This is a translation of [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir’s policy regarding the Al-Aqsa mosque. This is an official policy aimed at Judaizing the Al-Aqsa mosque and changing the existing legal status. The decision could lead to an explosion in the West Bank and chaos,” the Palestinian Authority warned.

The tours are expected to start in the coming weeks, after the holiday period, according to Kan.

“Following the government’s decision, the Heritage Ministry intends to launch guided tours of the Temple Mount, which will allow for the first time tens of thousands of Jews and hundreds of thousands of tourists who ascend the Mount every year to hear about the Jewish heritage of the Mount in an accurate historical version, free of alternative facts and Palestinian narratives written to promote an anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish agenda,” the ministry said.

“The operation of the guided tours will take place with permission and authority, [having] received the approval of all the relevant parties [and] passed a legal tender committee, and will be done in coordination with the Israel Police,” it continued.

According to the Kan report, Eliyahu’s office reached out Ben-Gvir, head of the Otzma Yehudit Party. A police representative then approved the funding after Ben-Gvir intervened.

Ben-Gvir again insisted on Monday that the government’s policy is to allow Jewish prayer atop the Temple Mount, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reiterate in a short statement that “there is no change to the status quo” barring Jews from worshiping at their holiest site.

“The policies on the Temple Mount allow prayer, period,” Ben-Gvir told Army Radio earlier on Monday. “The premier knows that when I joined the government, I said in the simplest way that there will be no discrimination at the Temple Mount,” he added.

Earlier this month, the minister visited the holy place in Jerusalem, where he said his policy was to allow Jewish prayer at the site.

“We are here on Tisha B’Av, at the Temple Mount, to commemorate the destruction of the Holy Temple. As I said—our policy is to allow prayer,” he said.

He added that he had visited the Temple Mount to pray for “the return of the hostages, the peace of the soldiers and victory in the war.”

Following the remarks, Netanyahu’s office released a statement emphasizing that “it is the government and the prime minister who determine policy on the Temple Mount. There is no private policy of any minister—not the national security minister or any other minister—on the Temple Mount. Thus it has been under all governments of Israel.”

The statement continued: “This morning’s incident on the Temple Mount deviated from the status quo. Israel’s policy on the Temple Mount has not changed; this is how it has been and this is how it will be.”

Police detained 40 Israelis who visited the site after waving Israeli flags, kneeling or prostrating themselves.

In June, Ben-Gvir said he intends to allow all Jews to openly pray at Judaism’s holiest site, changing the status quo that has existed there since 1967.

The status quo against Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount was never ratified in legislation. There have been various references to it over the years by all branches of government, but not in a way that grants it an independent legal status.

Since the beginning of the Hebrew year, over 50,000 Jews have visited the Temple Mount, according to data compiled by Beyadenu, an Israeli NGO dedicated to strengthening the Jewish connection to the site.