A far-right Israeli minister sparked fresh outrage on Monday by saying he would build a synagogue at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound if he could, once again challenging government policy, AFP reports.

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

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