The Temple Mount is home to the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. It is also believed to be the sight of Israel’s first and second temples (Temple of Solomon) from the Old Testament. When I toured Jerusalem in 2006, I visited the Israeli Museum which had a scale model of Ancient Jerusalem with a rebuilt Temple of Solomon in place of the Dome of the Rock.

This is terrifying. There are those in Israel’s radical right who advocate destruction of Islam’s third holiest site and the rebuilding of the Temple of Solomon. Sometimes their advocacy is couched in the propaganda of national security. Other times, they seek compromises, like construction of the Third Temple on only part of the Temple Mount. Most Arabs view this suspiciously and compare it to the house-by-house confiscation of East Jerusalem.

Prof. Weiss at rightist event: Build third temple immediately During a rightist event held in Jerusalem Sunday evening, just hours after Muslims rioted in and around the Temple Mount amid reports that Jewish extremists were planning to visit the site, Professor Hillel Weiss said, “The (third) temple must be built now. The mosques do not have to be destroyed in order for us to do this.” . . . . “Reclaiming our sovereignty over (the Temple Mount) will bring redemption closer,” said the rabbi. Far-right activist Moshe Feiglin told the conference that the Temple Mount riots and the Goldstone Report, which accuses the IDF of committing war crimes during its December-January conflict with Hamas in Gaza, both constitute attempts to “undermine our legitimacy in this land.” (Read more from myantiwar.org)

Rabbis Convene, Call for Ascent to Temple MountAt a special conference Sunday night at Heichal Shlomo in Jerusalem, Zionist rabbis are calling for Jewish ascent to the Temple Mount and for an end to the use of the Temple Mount as a platform for Muslim incitement. . . . Many Zionist rabbis support ascent to the Temple Mount but some do not, citing the Nation of Israel’s current state of impurity. Those who support ascent insist that the visitors first undergo ritual immersion in a mikveh, remain along the outer perimeter of the grounds and stay outside of areas where Jewish law forbids them to go. (Read more from israelnationalnews.com)

I personally don’t think this will happen any time soon. Pressure from the world, and from moderate voices within Israel will keep the radicals at bay, but as Israeli politics drifts further into the hands of religious radicals who believe God wants them to take all the land, the Temple Mount becomes an increasingly dangerous flash point.

See Also:
- Israel’s mistake was in returning the pagan Dome of the Rock back to the moslems as a goodwill gesture instead of razing it back in 1967.

- This week, several dozen Muslim faithful refused to leave the mosque, amid rumours that Jewish extremists were coming to attack it.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 4:14 am and is filed under Israel/Palestine.