The Financial Times reports that proposals by Israel’s new far-right government for far-reaching changes to the administration of the occupied West Bank prompted warnings from opposition figures and Palestinian groups even before Benjamin Netanyahu officially returned as prime minister last week.

The BBC, The Telegraph, The Financial Times, The Guardian and Reuters all report that Israel’s new national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, made a surprise visit to a flashpoint holy site in Jerusalem on Tuesday, less than a week after the new far-right government led by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu assumed office. All report that Israel’s new national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, made a surprise visit to a flashpoint holy site in Jerusalem on Tuesday, less than a week after the new government assumed office.

The Economist assesses the strength of Israeli-Arab ties, saying that “even a right-wing cabinet stocked with ultra-nationalists may not derail the deepening relationships”.

Sky News reports that Israel’s military on Monday demolished the family homes of two Palestinians they said had killed an Israeli soldier during a firefight in September.

Reuters reports that President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, is planning a trip to Israel this month, a White House official said on Monday. The meetings in Israel will come as “Netanyahu’s new alliance with ultra-nationalists has worried White House officials about the prospects for worsening Israel’s relations with Palestinians”.

Israeli media is dominated by discussion of Itamar Ben Gvir’s visit to the Temple Mount yesterday. Yediot Ahronot details the angry reaction worldwide, citing a senior US official as saying “the man is trying to sow chaos… He has a lot of responsibility. He’s a minister now. Why visit the Temple Mount? To get more views on TikTok? It will be very infuriating if rockets fly here just because someone went to the Temple Mount.” In his daily press conference, State Department Spokesman Ned Price said the US is “deeply concerned by any unilateral actions… precisely because they have the potential to exacerbate tensions, or worse. And that’s why we can look back to 2000, we can look back to previous instances. It’s also why we call for the preservation of the historic status quo. It is a point we’ve made to our Israeli partners; it’s a point we’ve made to them as recently as recent hours.”

 

Jordan summoned Israel’s ambassador to Amman, Eitan Surkis, for a reprimand at the Foreign Ministry in Amman, while Egypt, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia all condemned Ben Gvir’s “storming” of the Al Aqsa compounds. There was also an angry response from Turkey and Qatar, while UK ambassador to Israel Neil Wigan tweeted that “the UK remains committed to supporting the historic Status Quo at the holy sites in Jerusalem. It is important that all actors avoid actions at those sites that inflame tensions.”

Walla’s Barak Ravid speculates on the likely negative effect of strong Arab reaction to Ben Gvir’s visit on Netanyahu’s attempts to extend the Abraham Accords. While not thought to be a fatal blow, the incident is certainly unhelpful to his bid to court the Saudis, in particular.

In Maariv, domestic Israeli responses are hardly less critical. The Chief Sephardic Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef wrote to Ben Gvir saying: “I heard with regret about your decision to go to the Temple Mount … By virtue of my duties as chief rabbi and as the guardian of  traditions established by generations of chief rabbis, I feel obligated to warn [remind you] about the severity of the prohibition against ascending the Temple Mount, and to ask you in the name of the Chief Rabbinate to refrain from going to the Temple Mount so that [people don’t follow your example and come to sin], especially now that you have been appointed as a minister in the State of Israel.”

Condemnation also came from MKs Mansour Abbas (Ra’am), Yifat Shasha-Biton (National Unity Party) and Gilad Kariv (Labor Party), while opposition head Yair Lapid said “This is what happens when a weak prime minister is forced to make the most irresponsible person in the Middle East responsible over the most volatile place in the Middle East.”

In his column for Yediot Ahronot, Avi Issacharoff welcomes the lack of response to Ben Gvir’s stunt so far from Hamas but warns that the Gaza-based organisation is still likely “going to try to chalk up an achievement that will deter Israel, possibly in the form of a terror attack in the West Bank.” On the quiet so far, Issacharoff credits the altered Gazan calculus achieved by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s decision (which remains in place) to allow 17,000 Gazans to work in Israel.

Israel Hayom’s Nadav Shragai outlines the pressure being brough to bear on Ben Gvir by Temple Mount organisations seeking greater Jewish access and prayer rites at the site, while Amos Harel’s column in Haaretz stresses that Netanyahu’s priority remains preserving the status quo. While Ben Gvir’s visit should be seen in the context of his pre-election promise to change the status quo on Temple Mount in favour of allowing Jewish prayer, Harel says, the Prime Minister remains in charge and will not countenance such an alteration. Nonetheless, that he was unable to prevent the visit does show that Netanyahu is “no longer capable of dictating an across the board government policy that reflects his will.” Harel also warns that Ben Gvir’s plans for tightening conditions for Palestinian prisoners could spell a mass prisoner hunger strike and possible popular consequences in the West Bank.

Israel Hayom covers last night’s speech by Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah. In remarks ostensibly designed to convey that “there is no need to panic” despite reports in Israel and the Gulf States saying that he had been placed on a ventilator, Nasrallah also said of Ben Gvir that “attacking holy sites in Jerusalem is liable to cause a regional escalation. I say to supporters and enablers of Israel: If you do not want another regional war in addition to the war in Ukraine and Russia, then stop Israel from taking stupid steps.”

Several outlets cover the Israeli Attorney General’s announcement that she will not defend Shas leader Aryeh Deri’s appointment as interior and health minister in High Court of Justice proceedings. Gali Baharav-Miara’s decision is rare for an AG, and both Netanyahu and Deri will likely appoint external counsel to represent them in the case brought by petitioners to prevent Deri’s appointment. Baharav-Miara will, however, represent the government in a separate case brought to annul the legislation rushed through last month to allow Deri to serve despite his criminal conviction.

Haaretz’s Washington correspondent, Ben Samuels, reports that although early American criticism of the new Israel government was anticipated, few had predicted that one of the first complaints would come from hitherto Netanyahu-loyalist Lindsey Graham. The South Carolina Republican Senator was responding to new Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen’s recent comments that under the new government Israel will “talk less” about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Cohen has also spoken with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and despite the mild wording of Graham’s rebuke – Cohen’s comments were “a bit unnerving” – Samuels argues that “the fact that Graham is setting the tone, on the day the new session of Congress is sworn in, should be nothing short of deeply alarming for Netanyahu.”

Israel Hayom details British paper The Telegraph’s revelation on Monday that the UK government is set to proscribe Iran’s IRGC as a terrorist organisation. Under plans which have the backing of Security Minister Tom Tugendhat and Home Secretary Suella Braverman, membership of the IRGC or public displays of its symbols will become illegal.