Condemns Provocation At Al-Aqsa Mosque, Foreign Minister Sugiono: Violation Of Quo Status

Al-Aqsa Mosque Complex. (Wikimedia Commons/Andrew Shiva)

JAKARTA - Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono assessed the actions of the right-wing Israeli minister who led the open service for the first time at Temple Mount, Al-Aqsa Mosque Complex as a violation of the status quo and provoking.

Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for the first time led an open worship with Jewish settlers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque Complex on Sunday.

"We see it as a violation of the status quo. This makes the situation more complicated," said the Indonesian Foreign Minister after receiving a visit from Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tuesday, August 5.

"What we hope is respect for the agreement, existing traditions, not doing things that provoke greater anger," he said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement responding to Ben-Gvir's actions on weekends by emphasizing, "Israel's policy of maintaining the status quo at Temple Mount has not changed and will not change," quoted by The Times of Israel.

It is known, Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City is the holiest place in Jewish religion, as the location of two temples in the Bible. Meanwhile, by Muslims, this is known as Haram al-Sharif or His Majesty's Holy Place, this place is home to Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam.

Under the 1967 agreement, non-Muslims, including Jews, were not allowed to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque to perform any rituals. Under the decades-long "standing status quo" arrangement with Muslim authorities, Israel allowed Jews to visit but should not pray.

Jordan has been the official guard of Muslim and Christian holy places in Jerusalem since 1924, and has openly been recognized as the guard of Jerusalem's holy sites.

The site is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and suggestions for Israel to change rules about religious obedience there have led to violence in the past.

Ben-Gvir, who has repeatedly ignored the ban on Jews from praying on the site, last year expressed his desire to build a fire at the Al-Aqsa Complex.

After Ben Gvir's statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Office immediately issued a statement reaffirming Israel's official position, which accepted the old rules limiting non-Muslim prayers at the mosque complex, known as Temple Mount to Jews, which respects him as the site of two ancient temples.