WhatsappWith the political rise of Itamar Ben-Gvir shocking Israel and the world, the possibility of Ben-Gvir becoming the Minister of Internal Security has drawn a warning from Jordan. Jordan still administers the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque, despite Jerusalem being under Israeli sovereignty.
Why is Jordan concerned with Itamar Ben-Gvir taking over as the Minister if Internal Security?
In Israel, the Minister of Internal Security has complete control over the police and other internal security forces including the Shabak. Besides this, the Minister of Internal Security has direct control over day to day policy over the Temple Mount. Itamar Ben-Gvir believes in full Jewish sovereignty on the Temple Mount. This means open and organized Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount as well as a dedicated spot for those prayers to take place.
The fact is, the Israeli Supreme Court, despite its left leaning world view has ruled time and time again that full religious freedom should be given to Jews on the Temple Mount unless the security services decide it’s too dangerous. Until now most Ministers of Internal Security have deferred to the police regarding this. True, Gilad Erdan opened the Mount more than anyone before, but it was incremental and still lacks the sort of staying power activists want.
The fear Jordan has is that someone with such charisma and ideological purity as Itamar Ben-Gvir will have the ability to simply decide there is no security situation and the Supreme Court’s ruling will be filled in total. Jordan will never put up with this. This is because without control over the Temple Mount, the Jordanian Kingdom has no real claim to the throne. After all it was a made up royal family put together by the British whose only real claim is that it controlled Jerusalem for 19 years. If it loses the third holiest site in the Muslim mind, then what good is its king.
Of course, in reality Jordan can’t do much. Israel provides security to the monarch and gives the kingdom a discount on water. The Kingdom would completely collapse without Israeli support – so why is Israel afraid of Jordan?
Perhaps it is not. Maybe the real reason is because Israel is afraid of itself. The Temple Mount means something more than just another holy spot. It is the key focus of the Redemption. The Israeli elite fear that the Jewish people are beginning to realize that the Nation of Israel might be here for something far greater than some interesting hi-tech deals and offering refugee status to any group of threatened people around the world. Focusing on the Temple Mount means the elite themselves will have far less of a reason to be seen as anything more than they are – masters of distraction who focus on reaping the profits and rewards denied to the majority of Israelis.
Redemption marches forward in unexpected ways. Bibi appears about to be forced to hand the keys of the holiest site in the world to a man who may just want to push us to the next stage of the Jewish people’s return and Redemption.
