The Temple Mount is the most sacred site in Judaism and the third most sacred site of Islam in, after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. The sacred nature of the site has made it one of the main foci of tension and friction in the context of the Israeli-Arab conflict.
Jewish fundamentalism and the Temple Mount is original and pioneering research on a number of radical and messianic movements in Israel that wish to, and at times, are making preparations to rebuild the Temple. The manuscript examines the theological roots and historical circumstances that have given rise to the movement of Temple Builders. It places the different movements within larger political, social and religious developments, offering the readers a context to understand the place of such groups within the larger Israeli, and global realities of our time.
The research is described in the context of the fundamentalist phenomenon – a wave whose ramifications go far beyond the context of the Middle East. The research gives special attention to the connection between Jewish Temple Builders and Christian fundamentalist supporters and presents the theological exchanges that have taken place.
The Book points to the Six Day War as a watershed event that has given rise to messianic interpretations of the Israeli victory and its significance for Jewish history. Israel’s’ overtaking of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, resurrected and enhanced messianic convictions of Zionist Orthodoxy. However, the crystallizing during the 1980s-2000s of contemporary Messianic groups and their Temple oriented Messianic beliefs has driven not the euphoria of victory, but form the fear of disappointment. Those aspiring to build the Temple are afraid of an imminent loss of the territorial gains of made in the Six Day War, due to the peace process, and the theological implications of such setback to their messianic hopes.