Occupied Jerusalem Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is racing against time to impose full occupation sovereignty over Al-Aqsa Mosque and establish the plan for the “temporal and spatial division” of the mosque, by encouraging the alleged “Temple Organizations” to intensify mass incursions and ascend to the so-called “Temple Mount” in occupied Jerusalem.
The settlers’ mass incursions into Al-Aqsa, led at this stage by the head of the “Jewish Greatness” Minister Ben Gvir, who has prepared an organized plan of 3 stages to control Al-Aqsa, conceal a longer-term goal of demolishing the Dome of the Rock Mosque and building the alleged “Third Temple” in its place, according to a report by the newspaper “Haaretz”.
According to the newspaper, the biblical aspiration to build the “Third Temple” has been engraved in the hearts of Jews for two thousand years, but until now there has been no practical plan, whether for reasons of the religious prohibition against ascending the “Temple Mount” until the coming of the Messiah, or because of the political reality that did not allow this under the pretext of the “status quo.”
At this stage, the newspaper says in its report, “Today, key positions in the Israeli government, led by Netanyahu, are held by Minister Ben-Gvir, and alongside him are a group of Knesset members from the Likud, the “Jewish Greatness,” the religious Zionism movement, and extremist rabbis, and the dream of the “Third Temple” has become a reality.”
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in statements to Israeli media that his policy is based on allowing Jews to pray on the “Temple Mount” (the biblical name for Al-Aqsa Mosque), and that there are no restrictions on Jews praying on Al-Aqsa, just like Muslims, according to him. pic.twitter.com/Rl8xLyKC3S
– Tel Aviv Tribune Net | Quds (@Aljazeeraquds) August 26, 2024
turning point
To advance this goal under the rule of the extreme right, the “Temple Organizations,” with the green light from Ben-Gvir and the silent approval of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are planning to organize mass raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Jewish holidays, which begin in early October and continue through November.
The person who caused a turning point in the “Temple Building” movement was the right-wing activist Rabbi Yehuda Glick. The fact that he was shot by a Palestinian in 2014 boosted his status and brought him to the 20th Knesset as a representative of the Likud party.
Rabbi Glick, who was formerly the executive director of the Temple Institute, realized that the way to legitimize the Temple issue in the hearts of secular Jews is not through religious or even national arguments, but by using their own way of presenting it, by using their own methods of thinking, and adopting the discourse of rights that they promote.
In order to dissolve the idea of building a third “Temple” in the collective Jewish mind, Rabbi Glick made it a habit not to talk about the “Temple” at all, but rather contented himself with claiming that Jews were allowed to ascend and pray on the “Temple Mount.”
Glick went on to use the argument of universal rights that Jews can pray anywhere in the world and are not allowed to pray in their holiest place (Al-Aqsa), according to his claim, claiming that he is not calling for infringing on the rights of Muslims, but rather wants to allow Jews to do what Muslims are permitted to do in the courtyards of the sanctuary.
Substantial changes
In the last two decades, the number of organizations established to promote this goal of building the “Third Temple” has increased, and attempts have even been made to unify them, such as the Joint Headquarters of the Temple Movements established in 2012.
One of the fundamental changes was the shift in the official position of religious Zionism, which in the past supported the biblical prohibition on ascending the Temple Mount – storming Al-Aqsa – for reasons of “Jewish purity”, as it abandoned its position.
In the current decade, even the ultra-Orthodox groups (Haredi Jews), whose position was more stringent regarding ascending the Temple Mount, began to support it, and thus it happened that the reality in the courtyards of the sanctuary changed from a few incursions by Jews to mass incursions.
The incursions reached their peak in 2023, when 50,000 settlers stormed Al-Aqsa, with the support and encouragement of Ben Gvir and the protection of the Israeli occupation police.
Outline
Storming Al-Aqsa is one thing, and preparing to build and operate the “Third Temple” is another. Over the years, the rabbis and priests who are supposed to assume this position have already been trained in their craft, their clothes have been sewn, their musical instruments and work tools have been made.
According to the newspaper, the altar, which is kept in a secret location, has already been built, and the Torah school (midrash) has been established, where they learn the laws of the Temple Mount. In an interview, architect Yoram Ginzburg spoke about the detailed plan he is preparing for the new temple.
He said that a heating system and an underground parking lot will be built in the temple, where visitors will be shown a large model and sculpture, showing the temple as described in the “Prophecy of Ezekiel”. In the institute’s store, you can buy a “Lego” model of the Third Temple, and in the institute’s wanted section, priests qualified for slaughter are recruited from the age of 14 and up.
The architect explained that even the main difficulty so far, which was to burn a red cow to cleanse the “Children of Israel” of its ashes and allow them to ascend the Temple Mount, is almost over. After many successful attempts to clone such a cow, in Israel and the United States, there in a secret location in the Golan Heights, a herd of several of these cows is currently being raised.
The Temple Institute is expected to announce the first red heifer, the first since the days of the Second Temple. The next step involves slaughtering it, burning it, and mixing its ashes with water. After two thousand years, faithful Jews will be able to cleanse themselves of the impurity of the dead and ascend freely to all parts of the Temple Mount.
Increasing legitimacy
Support for the Temple movement has gained increasing legitimacy in the past two decades. Dr. Michael Ben-Ari, a member of the Kach movement and an activist in Temple organizations, was elected to the 18th Knesset for the National Union in 2009, and Moshe Feiglin later joined the Knesset.
Likud Minister Miri Regev established the so-called “Temple Mount Directorate,” a Jewish body parallel to the Islamic Waqf in Jerusalem, which she believes “will bring about a change in the public discourse regarding the Jewish relationship with the Temple Mount.”
In the huge hall of the Nation Buildings in Jerusalem, during 2023, gatherings and festivals were already held with the participation of thousands of Temple seekers and supporters of the Temple movement, in which senior Israeli politicians, including ministers and members of the Knesset, participated.
Millions of shekels and dollars flow into the Temple Movement from Israel and abroad, partly through fundamentalist Christian organizations. The movement is also supported by many public organizations and Israeli government ministries, some directly, some secretly.
In the many organizations working on behalf of the Temple Mount, there are a variety of opinions. The group headed by Professor Hillel Weiss calls for the Dome of the Rock to be demolished now and the Temple to be built in its place.
Former Israeli Knesset Member Moshe Feiglin Announces Imminent Construction of Temple While Storming Al-Aqsa Mosque pic.twitter.com/M57kFDfehV
— Tel Aviv Tribune Egypt (@AJA_Egypt) August 27, 2024
Stages theory
As early as 2004, Weiss managed to establish the “New Sanhedrin,” a council of rabbis that was supposed to replace the Knesset, and “its goal is to make the Torah the source of authority and legislation for the Jewish people,” and to change Israeli democracy and move from “kingdoms of species” to “kingdoms of priests.”
But what is common to most of the movements supporting the construction of the “Third Temple,” but hidden from the general public, is the theory of stages. The mission today is to bring as many Jews as possible to Al-Aqsa, then allow them to pray, perform Talmudic and Torah rituals, and impose sovereignty and rule in the courtyards of the sanctuary.
After allowing Jews to pray in Al-Aqsa, there will be an explicit demand to build a synagogue next to the mosque, and in the final stage the Dome of the Rock Mosque will be demolished and the temple will be built in its place. The Internet is full of simulations and detailed proposals prepared by architects for the new “Third Temple” that will be dedicated “to the chosen nation only.”
