Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on Wednesday that “the whole world is worried” about lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir’s far-right positions, as he appears poised to become a minister in Benjamin Netanyahu’s new coalition government, Israeli media reported.

Herzog’s statement about the far-right politician was caught by a microphone he apparently thought was off as he held consultations with an ultra-Orthodox political party about the next government.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is expected to be at the helm of the new government following the victory of his right-wing alliance in last week’s election.

“You have a partner who the entire world around us is worried about. I have also said this to him. This is really not for publication. I don’t want to cause problems,” Herzog said on a live mic about Ben-Gvir at the end of the meeting.

“You are going to have a problem with the Temple Mount. That is a critical issue,” Herzog said, referring to occupied East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam.

Ben-Gvir, who was convicted of supporting a terror group and inciting racism in 2007, supports Jewish prayer at the sacred compound, challenging the historic status quo.

(The New Arab, PC, SOCIAL)