Jewish Fundamentalism And The Temple Mount

The Temple Mount, located in Jerusalem, is the most sacred site in Judaism and the third-most sacred site in Islam, after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. The sacred nature of the site for both religions has made it one of the focal points of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Jewish Fundamentalism and the Temple Mount is an original and provocative study of the theological roots and historical circumstances that have given rise to the movement of the Temple Builders. Motti Inbari points to the Six Day War in 1967 as the watershed event: the Israeli victory in the war resurrected and intensified Temple-oriented messianic beliefs. Initially confined to relatively limited circles, more recent "land for peace" negotiations between Israel and its Arab neighbors have created theological shock waves, enabling some of the ideas of Temple Mount activists to gain wider public acceptance. Inbari also examines cooperation between Third Temple groups in Israel and fundamentalist Christian circles in the United States, and explains how such cooperation is possible and in what ways it is manifested.

A seasoned journalist guides readers through the violent struggle for Jerusalem's sacred Temple Mount.

Sovereignty over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is one of the most difficult problems in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Although it is a present-day bone of contention, its roots go back into the distant past. Israelites, Christians, and Muslims had fought over this holy site, and built on it a succession of shrines. The book leads the reader into the intricate history, geography, and politics of this unique site. It relates the roots of its holiness, describes the succession of temples built on it, and explains how in the twentieth century its sanctity became intertwined with the national aspirations of both Jews and Arabs. It explains why the Temple Mount is considered the holiest site for the Jews, and how it became holy also to the Muslims. The book also explores the role of evangelical Christians, who, alongside a segment of the Jewish population, see the Temple Mount as the center of messianic aspirations, fed by the myriad of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim legends and myths which evolved around it. The book is richly illustrated with photographs, sketches, maps, and plans.

The Six Day War in 1967 profoundly influenced how an increasing number of religious Zionists saw Israeli victory as the manifestation of God's desire to redeem God's people. Thousands of religious Israelis joined the Gush Emunim movement in 1974 to create settlements in territories occupied in the war. However, over time, the Israeli government decided to return territory to Palestinian or Arab control. This was perceived among religious Zionist circles as a violation of God's order. The peak of this process came with the Disengagement Plan in 2005, in which Israel demolished all the settlements in the Gaza Strip and four settlements in the West Bank. This process raised difficult theological questions among religious Zionists. This book explores the internal mechanism applied by a group of religious Zionist rabbis in response to their profound disillusionment with the state, reflected in an increase in religious radicalization due to the need to cope with the feelings of religious and messianic failure.

This study presents the first comprehensive survey of the abundant early Islamic sources that recognize the historical Jewish bond to the Temple Mount (Masjid al-Aqsa) and Jerusalem. Analyzing these sources in light of the views of contemporary Muslim religious scholars, thinkers and writers, who - in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict - deny any Jewish ties to the Temple Mount and promote the argument that no Jewish Temple ever stood on the Temple Mount. The book describes how this process of denying Jewish ties to the site has become the cultural rationale for UNESCO decisions in recent years regarding holy sites in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Hebron, which use Muslim Arabic terminology and overlook the Jewish (and Christian) history and sanctification of these sites. Denying the Jewish ties to the Temple Mount for political purposes inadvertently undermines the legitimacy of Islam's sanctification of Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock as well as the credibility of the most important sources in Arabic, which constitute the classics of Islam and provide the foundation for its culture and identity. Identifying and presenting the Jewish sources in the Bible, Babylonian Talmud and exegesis on which these Islamic traditions are based, this volume is a key resource for readers interested in Islam, Judaism, religion and political science and history in the Middle East.

This book examines the manner in which the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount has been appropriated by both Palestinians and Israelis as a nationalist symbol legitimizing respective claims to the land. From the late-nineteenth century onward, the site's significance became reconfigured within the context of modern nationalist discourses, yet, despite the originally secular nature of Palestinian and Israeli nationalisms, the holy site’s importance to Islam and Judaism respectively has gradually altered the character of both in a manner blurring the line between religious and national identities.

Temple Mount is believed by some Jews to be the locus of their ancient Temple. Known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary), this site is home to two mosques, one of which is the third most holy shrine in all of Islam. Jewish fundamentalists want to destroy the mosques on Temple Mount and rebuild the Temple. Christian apocalypticists are financing and supporting their efforts. If the mosques are destroyed, Islamic fundamentalists have vowed to destroy Israel, resulting in the possibility of nuclear war. This book addresses the idea that the recent rise of militant Christian, Jewish, and Muslim fundamentalisms and their interaction are endangering peace in the Middle East. It fully examines the thesis that apocalypticist fundamentalists—Christians in America, Jews in Israel and America—are working together to hasten the coming of the Messiah by instigating a Holy War in the Middle East. Several chapters focus on three U.S. political figures—Jerry Falwell, Ronald Reagan, and Pat Robertson—who helped bring Christian fundamentalism into the mainstream of American politics. One chapter tells of Jewish preparations for rebuilding the Temple on Temple Mount. Other chapters document the rise of religious fundamentalism in Israel since 1967, Haram al-Sharif–Temple Mount crises involving Christian-Jewish cooperation, and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. Separate chapters are devoted to Israel’s nuclear program and political psychology, and the fact that nuclear weapons are leaving Russia and finding their way to Islamic nations and Islamic terrorists.