National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ascended the Har Habayis Thursday morning ahead of Yom Yerushalayim’s annual flag march, declaring it to be “in our hands” and crediting “determination and deterrence” for what he called a restoration of Israeli sovereignty there.

It is important to note that every mainstream posek has ruled that it is assur gammur to go on the Har Habayis.

His visit came amid a day of mounting tensions in the Old City, capped by a police announcement that afternoon that officers had arrested a suspect planning a terror attack during the celebrations. Acting on intelligence, police located the man at a carwash and took him into custody for interrogation by the Shin Bet.

Violence broke out earlier in the day when a group of youths clashed with Old City residents and left-wing activists from the Standing Together movement, at one point hurling chairs at them. Police intervened and escorted the activists out of the Old City, a move the group framed as a “solidarity guard” aimed at protecting Palestinian and Arab residents from what they called “extremist settlers.”

Police arrested 13 people, both Jews and Arabs, in connection with the day’s altercations. Roads across Jerusalem were shut down Thursday afternoon, with officers announcing they would reopen them incrementally as the march progressed.

Gedolei Yisrael across the spectrum – from previous generations to today’s foremost poskim – have been unequivocal in their psak: it is assur gamur, with the severity of kares, to ascend Har HaBayis in our time. This includes the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, who have repeatedly reaffirmed that visiting Har Habayis is a serious aveirah.

Around twenty years ago, during a Sukkos visit to the home of Harav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv Ztl, then-President Shimon Peres was personally urged by the Gadol Hador to prevent all Jewish visits to Har HaBayis. Rav Elyashiv warned that such provocations would be viewed by the nations of the world as deliberate incitement, and he stressed that they carry the potential to ignite a religious war.

In the eyes of gedolei Torah, such visits are not merely controversial but are acts of issur that jeopardize both spiritual and physical safety. The Chief Rabbinate has reiterated in multiple proclamations that even those who purport to purify themselves before ascending are transgressing, as the boundaries of the holy areas are not fully known, and no preparation can remove the punishment of kares for entering forbidden areas.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)