It will not have surprised the Israeli government that the visit of Security Minister Ben-Gvir to the Temple Mount is now also being criticized from Berlin and Brussels.
Virtually all of the country's key partners, from the old protecting power America to its new Arab friends, have condemned the short but politically highly provocative excursion.
For Prime Minister Netanyahu, the rejection from Bahrain or the United Arab Emirates should be particularly instructive.
He rightly takes credit for the fact that in his previous term he managed to establish diplomatic relations with the two small Gulf states.
Normalization with Saudi Arabia?
He now also wants to normalize relations with the Arab power Saudi Arabia, which would be a great strategic gain for Israel.
However, this will not promote an open dispute about an important sacred object of Islam.
Netanyahu knew with whom he was dealing when last week he was elected prime minister by nationalist and ultra-Orthodox groups.
Ben-Gvir, who has an inglorious past as a hate speechr and enemy of the Arabs, showed within a few days how he understands his office.
Maintaining the status quo, which Netanyahu is now promising to do abroad, is not his business.
That this man is in charge of the police could prove to be a big problem, and not just on the Temple Mount.