Israel's Worst-ever Government Wants to Let the Country Burn
HAARETZ EDITORIAL
February 20, 2024
The decision to impose restrictions on Muslims coming
to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan is the most dangerous decision this
horrifying government has made since the war began.
Ramadan, which begins next month, could have been an
excellent opportunity to prove that Hamas' spokesmen lie and that Israel's war
is against Hamas, not against the entire Palestinian people or against all
Muslims. It was an opportunity to undermine this terrorist organization's
propaganda that Israel intends to harm Muslim freedom of worship on the
Temple Mount (a.k.a.
Al-Aqsa) and change the status quo there, as well as an opportunity to draw a
distinction between Hamas and Arabs in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and
Israel.
But this government, the worst in Israel's history, is
controlled by Temple Mount activist Itamar
Ben-Gvir and headed
by a failed statesman whose worldview has brought Israel to the brink of an
abyss. Consequently, not only is it missing this chance, but it's using Ramadan
as an opportunity to pour more fuel on the fire of the conflict with the
Palestinians.
At a meeting of the war cabinet on Sunday, Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again "caved in" to National
Security Minister Ben-Gvir's caprices. Judging by a summary of the discussion,
it appears that police intend to severely restrict the entry of Muslim
worshippers to Al-Aqsa during Ramadan, including Arab citizens of Israel. This decision was
made even though past experience shows that restricting entry to the Mount
during Ramadan almost always exacts a high security price. From the
Palestinians' perspective, the decision is further proof of the threat to their
status at their holiest site.
The decision was made in defiance of the stances of
the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet security service, both of which
argued that the restrictions could ignite additional fronts of conflict in
Jerusalem, the West Bank and mixed Jewish-Arab cities inside Israel. It was
also made over the objections of the legal advisers, who pointed out that
there's a constitutional problem with imposing sweeping restrictions on Israeli
citizens' freedom of worship.
According to the status quo that Netanyahu himself has
repeatedly confirmed, only Muslims are allowed to pray on the Temple Mount.
Consequently, the argument that Jews' freedom of worship is also restricted at
the site is false, even contemptible. This dangerous decision comes in the wake
of the decision not to allow Palestinian workers from the West
Bank to return to
work in Israel and the closure of the Temple Mount's gates to thousands of
Muslim worshippers every Friday.
Netanyahu no longer enjoys the presumption of
ignorance or an error in judgment. In the best case, he made this decision for reasons
that have nothing to do with Israel's national interests – namely, concern for
the stability of his governing coalition. And in the worst case, he made it in
order to extend and radicalize the war, thereby postponing the day of reckoning after the war.
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