Ben-Gvir Will Visit Temple Mount, Netanyahu Granted 10 More Days To Form Government

Far-right Israeli lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is set to become the national security minister overseeing the Israel Police and the West Bank Border Police in Prime Minister-designate Binyamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, will visit the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in the coming days, one of the lawmaker’s officials said. It will be Ben-Gvir’s first visit to the flashpoint site since the December 1 election, which could spur protests and violence by Palestinians in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, just as a visit to the Temple Mount by then-Opposition Leader Ariel Sharon in September 2000 was the spark that ignited the Second Intifada. Meanwhile, Netanyahu was granted 10 more days in order to finish forming his government by the country’s president, Isaac Herzog. Netanyahu now has until December 21 to form his government. Herzog could have granted Netanyahu up to 14 days; it is not known why he chose to not grant Netanyahu the full two weeks. In his request for an extension, Netanyahu told Herzog that his party has signed tentative agreements with the parties that he plans to have in his government but that issues remained to be solved regarding the ministerial positions and committee assignments that will be given to each party. In a letter informing Netanyahu of the extension, Herzog said he is concerned about the far-right government that the former prime minister is forming.  “These are complex times for Israeli society as differences over core issues threaten to stoke violence and blind hatred,” the president wrote. “The coalition being formed must maintain a respectful and responsible dialogue between the authorities—executive, legislature, and judiciary,” he also wrote. The warning likely was in response to the forming coalitions stated goal of implementing an override clause, which would allow the Knesset to block the ability of the country’s Supreme Court to block legislation and government decisions that it says violates Israel’s Basic Law, the closest thing the country has to a constitution.