By James M. Dorsey
When Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir stormed the Temple Mount or Haram al-Sharif with up to 3,000 of his singing, dancing, and praying ultra-nationalist religious followers, he didn’t just target the site holy to Jews and Muslims.
Mr. Ben Gvir carefully timed his provocation, violating long-standing arrangements with the Jordanian-controlled endowment that administers the Muslim holy sites on the Mount, to fuel regional tensions.
The arrangements allow non-Muslims to visit the site in the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City but ban them from praying there.
With his provocation, Mr. Ben Gvir hoped to sabotage US-Qatar-Egypt-mediated Gaza ceasefire talks scheduled to be held later this week in either Doha or Cairo.
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