{"id":402,"date":"2026-01-05T17:52:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T17:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1newsnetwork.com\/?p=402"},"modified":"2026-02-02T20:44:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T20:44:03","slug":"israel-installs-new-police-chief-for-east-jerusalem-ahead-of-ramadan-to-advance-ben-gvirs-plans-for-al-aqsa-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1newsnetwork.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/05\/israel-installs-new-police-chief-for-east-jerusalem-ahead-of-ramadan-to-advance-ben-gvirs-plans-for-al-aqsa-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel installs new police chief for East Jerusalem ahead of Ramadan to advance Ben-Gvir\u2019s plans for Al-Aqsa: Report"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">Major General Avshalom Peled sworn in as commander of Jerusalem District Police, 6 weeks ahead of holy month of Ramadan <\/p><\/div>\n\n\n<p>By Rania Abushamala<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>ISTANBUL (AA) \u2013 Israel installed a new police commander in occupied East Jerusalem, six weeks ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in a move seen as aiming to advance plans by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque, local media reported Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Major General Avshalom Peled was sworn in as commander of the Jerusalem District Police, replacing Major General Amir Arzani.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Previously serving as deputy police commissioner, Peled is now responsible for security at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem, Haaretz daily said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His predecessor, Arzani, was forced by Ben-Gvir to leave office over disagreements related to the flashpoint site, the newspaper said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Haaretz, Arzani had \u201crefused to allow far-reaching changes at the site\u201d upon Ben-Gvir\u2019s orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ramadan, the holiest month in Islamic calendar, is expected to start next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This year, \u201cit seems Ben-Gvir is doing everything he can to fan the flames,\u201d Haaretz commented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the change-of-command ceremony, Ben-Gvir said the Jerusalem District commander\u2019s position is among the \u201cmost complex, sensitive and influential\u201d in Israeli security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said changes had begun at the Al-Aqsa compound, \u201cthe most important place for the Jewish people,\u201d voicing confidence that Peled \u201cwould lead this district securely, with judgment and determination.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third-holiest site in Islam. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, believing it was the location of two ancient Jewish temples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe importance of command of the Jerusalem District obligates me and the district\u2019s police officers to preserve the sovereignty and governability in a resolute and uncompromising manner, to strengthen the deterrence in the face of criminals and increase the security and feeling of safety of Jerusalem\u2019s residents and those who enter its gates,\u201d Peled said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since 2003, Israeli authorities have allowed illegal settlers into the Al-Aqsa Mosque nearly every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and unilaterally annexed the city in 1980, a move not recognized by the international community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><em>Major General Avshalom Peled sworn in as commander of Jerusalem District Police, 6 weeks ahead of holy month of Ramadan<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[15,16,19,18],"class_list":{"0":"post-402","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-israel","9":"tag-palestine","10":"tag-war-crimes","11":"tag-zionist"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1newsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1newsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1newsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1newsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1newsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/1newsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":404,"href":"https:\/\/1newsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402\/revisions\/404"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1newsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1newsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1newsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1newsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}