National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's visit to Temple Mount on Tuesday did not surprise anyone. He had promised to do so on the eve of the November 1 elections, in their immediate aftermath, and even one day before he finally made good on his word.
The surprise came from Hamas in Gaza, who opted at least for now, to refrain from a violent response to the provocative act, despite threating to do so. The one lone rocket launch later that day could not be attributed to the terror group.
As of now, Hamas prefers to maintain calm with Israel, when in the past Ben-Gvir's visit could have been a good enough justification for war.
Gaza may be quiet, but as we've learned from past experiences, this could be a misleading picture. Hamas did call on West Bank Palestinians to increase their "acts of resistance," or in other words, to launch terror attacks.
Hamas' conduct is undergoing a calculated change. They allowed hundreds of thousands of supporters of the Fatah movement to celebrate their organization's anniversary openly in the heart of Gaza just a few days ago.
That, despite the Palestinian Authority's active measures to arrest Hamas operatives ahead of the anniversary celebrations of the Islamist group in the West Bank just weeks earlier.
For Hamas' restraint, Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir may have to give credit to former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. He changed Israel's long-time policies, and allowed 17,000 Gazans to receive Israeli work permits - bringing slow but detectable improvements to Gaza's economy.
Netanyahu's new government has not announced any intention to revoke those work permits, at least so far. All Israeli governments – no matter what side of the political divide they are from - have sought various arrangements with Hamas. But, how long will the terror group continue to favor employment for their residents if actions, such as the one taken by Ben-Gvir, persist?
Mansour Abbas, leader of the Islamist Ra'am party, and a former member of the Bennett coalition, said on Tuesday that the trust that exists between Muslim nations, who have forged relations with Israel, and the leaders in Jerusalem, will suffer following Ben-Gvir's antics.
Netanyahu's planned visit to the UAE has already been postponed following the visit, while in Jordan, the Israeli ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry to hear the kingdom's objections.
Netanyahu's declared hopes for relations with Saudi Arabia could also be squashed if tensions around the disputed Jerusalem compound continue to grow.
The prime minister attempted to calm the anger and insisted the status quo, agreed upon with the Jordanian administrators of the holy site after the Six Day War, would remain unchanged. He may be right when he said that Ben-Gvir was not the first minister to make such a visit. But, let us not be fooled. Ben-Gvir is an agent of chaos who incites violence against Palestinians, and his antics are seen as red flags being waved by him in front of Arabs.
Regardless of whether his provocation on Tuesday was agreed upon with Netanyahu, the new government needs a responsible caretaker to prevent this arsonist from burning down the country.
But, does such a person even exist?