Why Did The Israeli Security Minister Storm A Mosque?
Israel's multi-decade rightward shift in politics is irreparably damaging their foreign relations.
Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir joined thousands of Jewish ultranationalists who demonstrated in front of the Al-Aqsa Compound, one of the most culturally sensitive holy sites in Jerusalem, on Thursday. They were escorted by armed police as they prayed, sang the national anthem, and waved the Israeli flag, a direct challenge to the decades-old "agreement that restricts non-Muslim prayer at Islam’s third-holiest site.
What was intended to be a domestic show of political strength acts internationally as a strategic signal: Israel’s internal rightward pivot is creating growing friction with its primary security partners and regional allies.
A Minister of Extremes
Itamar Ben-Gvir, in particular, is a controversial yet influential figure. As the leader of the ultranationalist and Jewish supremacist Otzma Yehudit (“Jewish Power”) political party, Ben-Gvir’s appointment to the position of Minister of National Security by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew immediate criticism from domestic legal authorities and international diplomats.
Despite holding a 63% negative approval rating compared to a 32% positive one among the general populace, Ben-Gvir retains 58% positive approval among right-wing Israelis. His key constituency appears to be hardline religious nationalist voters who approve of his uncompromising stance and see it as a necessary counterweight to traditional establishment politics.
Ben-Gvir’s six Knesset seats also carry a disproportionate weight within Netanyahu’s narrow governing majority, but he cannot fire Ben-Gvir without collapsing his governing coalition, thus allowing disproportionate power to a highly radical coalition that would otherwise be marginalized. However, the rise of politicians like Itamar Ben-Gvir is only one reason behind the degeneration of Israel’s international appearance.
The Police and the West Bank
Ben-Gvir’s appearance alongside numerous hardliners at yesterday’s Tisha B’Av events at the Al-Aqsa/Haram al-Sharif was not just as a politician. As the Minister of National Security, Ben-Gvir is also in charge of the Israel Police. He used that power to replace district commanders in the Jerusalem Police District with ideological allies, changing the police’s duty from preventing non-Muslim prayer to protecting it.
This shift marks one of many institutional “corrections” made by the Netanyahu government toward a further right shift in domestic politics, drawing international concerns over the treatment of non-Jewish minorities. However, aside from the usual risks that come with Ben-Gvir’s majoritarian beliefs, Netanyahu’s courting of such radical figures risks alienating Israel’s already-shaky regional relations.
Alliances In Jeopardy
Firstly, the rising normalization of Jewish ultranationalism places Israel in direct opposition to the ideas of its Muslim neighbors, many of which already carry historical concerns over the idea of a Jewish state.
1994 Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty
The most immediately fragile relationship is the 1994 Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty (and some earlier historical agreements). Under this treaty, King Abdullah II’s Hashemite dynasty holds official custodianship over Jerusalem’s Islamic and Christian holy sites (via the Jordanian Waqf). But ultranationalist figures like Ben-Gvir outright advocate for the assertion of unilateral Israeli authority over the Temple Mount/Haram Al-Sharif through the use of police forces to escort Jewish prayer groups. This undermines Waqf authority and operationally threatens Jordanian custodianship. Additionally, because Jordan’s population is majority Palestinian, if the King is perceived as failing to protect Islam’s holy sites from the Israelis, it could trigger massive domestic unrest in the nation. So, Amman is forced to adopt a hostile diplomatic stance, which stalls security cooperation and constantly threatens to freeze or downgrade the peace treaty to preserve internal stability.
The Abraham Accords
Another very critical alliance that is under threat is the Abraham Accords, which is a series of historical agreements between Gulf signatories, primarily for technology access, defense trade, and a shared counter-Iran interest. These agreements were premised on the idea that Arab states could decouple their economic and security normalization with Israel from the unresolved Palestine dispute. However, the implicit condition was that Israel would avoid blatant provocations at holy sites or mass West Bank annexations. The disruptions perpetrated by Ben-Gvir and his compatriots make normalization politically toxic for Gulf leaders in the court of Arab public opinion. While the treaties likely won’t be significantly altered overnight, existing signatories like the UAE and Bahrain could freeze high-level diplomatic visits, slow down joint defense projects, and issue strong public condemnations. Then, prospective partners like Saudi Arabia, who have maintained that Palestinian statehood is a prerequisite for formal normalization, would be effectively blocked from accepting any concessions from Israel that would otherwise be needed to sell a normalization deal domestically.
U.S-Israel Bipartisan Alignment
The U.S expects Israel to act as a stable and predictable regional partner. Washington provides Israel with significant military aid and diplomatic defense at the UN, but such protection relies on shared strategic alignment and domestic political consensus, the latter of which is already seeing major structural shifts. The American diplomatic preference for big-picture initiatives (such as countering Iran) is averse to settling localized problems in Jerusalem.
When Israeli coalition partners provoke crises at significant friction points like Al-Aqsa, the U.S State Department is compelled to issue reprimands, which alienates domestic political constituencies in the U.S and distracts from broader diplomatic objectives. The erosion of bipartisan support for Israel in Washington is already accelerating due to a number of factors, and the constant far-right provocations only push this shift further.
Conclusion
With American domestic support for relations with Israel already in severe decline, the latter cannot afford to continue tolerating the aggravations of ultranationalist figures like Itamar Ben-Gvir. Such incitements portray Israel as a liability that threatens U.S regional strategy and force readiness, rather than the strong ally that the foreign policy apparatus has long considered it to be.