On video: Ben Gvir ascended the Temple Mount: "This is the place where we need to return and show governance"/Temple Mount Administration
The Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gabir sent a letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in which he warned of the safety hazards given the unrestricted entry of Israeli Arabs to the Temple Mount during the month of Ramadan.
Ben Gvir wrote: "I would like to warn you that even after the supreme efforts of the police, there are significant gaps in the ability to implement the Prime Minister's decision without endangering human life."
He added: "I don't know if there will definitely be an event with many casualties or an emergency, but from the discussion I held and the questions I asked, I did not get the impression that the police have the ability to deal with and ensure the safety and security of the expected number of worshipers on the Temple Mount as a result of the Prime Minister's decision."
Police on the Temple Mount, April 5, 2023/Flash 90, Jamal Awad
According to Ben Gvir: "I was not impressed that there was an ability to handle the heavy load at the gates of the Temple Mount, which will be created when tens of thousands arrive at the entrances of the Mount, certainly not a number of 50-60 thousand people. I was not impressed that there was a real response to a safety incident that could occur on the Mount and control over what would happen There. And even more, I was not impressed, that there is an ability to limit the number to 50-60 thousand people when there is no age limit."
Ben Gabir declared: "I wave a bright red flag before you and ask to re-discuss the decision. Indeed, the claimant will claim that even in the previous Ramadan, and in the ones that preceded it, luckily no disaster happened, but the Miron Committee has already determined that 'the fact that the revelry ended in the past without any loss of life, is not makes it a successful event. Furthermore, as we detailed, Shabtai knew that the event involved a real risk to life every year, and this information in itself obliged him to reexamine the assumptions underlying the operation plan.''
The minister signed his letter: "In light of all of the above, and due to the closeness to the beginning of the month of Ramadan and the urgency of the issue involving a real danger to life, I would like to urgently convene the political-security cabinet in order to discuss the issue of overcrowding once more and the security and safety issue, this in light of the lack of a satisfactory response to these issues" .
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The Temple Mount
Itamar Ben Gabir