(August 18, 2024 / JNS) Nearly three thousand Jews visited the Temple Mount last week on Tuesday, Tisha B’av, which commemorates the destruction of the two ancient Jewish Temples.

But it was the visits to the Temple Mount by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Minister for the Negev and the Galilee Yitzhak Wasserlauf that set off another firestorm of controversy. 

Ben-Gvir said during the visit that the status quo had changed and that Jews could now pray at the site.

Critics condemned the visit and remarks as provocative, warning they could derail the currently ongoing hostage talks in Doha, Qatar, or even ignite the Muslim world. They claimed Ben-Gvir violated the status quo on the Temple Mount.

But according to Yehuda Glick, NEWSRAEL Contributor and a former Knesset member and currently chairman of the Shalom Jerusalem Foundation, in reality there is no status quo.

“Jews have been praying publicly and regularly on the Temple Mount for the last decade,” he said.

The only difference, he told JNS, was that until now no one acknowledged it or said anything about it. What made Ben-Gvir’s visit different was his official announcement that prayer on the Temple Mount is permitted, he added.

“For the last decade, Jews have been praying publicly on the Temple Mount every day with the permission of the police,” said Glick.

The central understanding today regarding the site involves the terms agreed upon between Israel and the Islamic Waqf when Israel conquered the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount during the 1967 Six-Day War. These became known as “the status quo.”

While officially Israel denies any changes have been made to the status quo, it no longer exists as formulated by Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan in 1967. 

According to Glick, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is paying lip service to it, “but is totally supportive of the changes that are happening.”