A far-right Israeli minister has sparked outrage by saying he would build a Jewish synagogue at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem if he could, strengthening the narrative that the Muslim holy site and Palestinian national symbol is under threat.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has repeatedly ignored the Israeli government’s longstanding ban on Jews praying at the site, told Army Radio on Monday that if it were possible, he would build a synagogue at the Al-Aqsa compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.

The Al-Aqsa compound is Islam’s third holiest site and a symbol of Palestinian identity. It is also considered by Jews to be the site of the First and Second Temples – the latter destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

“If I could do anything I wanted, I would put an Israeli flag on the site,” Ben-Gvir said in the interview.

Asked several times by a journalist if he would build a synagogue at the site if it were up to him, Ben-Gvir finally replied: “Yes.”

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