What Are the Temple Movements and Why Should We Be Worried?
▻http://www.ir-amim.org.il/en/node/2113
Why Are We on High Alert as Rosh Hashanah Approaches?
The Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif is one of the most complicated and sensitive issues on Israel’s agenda, activating friction points between Israel and the Palestinian population, the Arab nations surrounding Israel, the Muslim world and domestically, within the Israeli Jewish community itself.
Over the last decade, the fragile status quo (see more below) at the holy site has been increasingly tested, driven by a revival of activity by Jews who are determined to overturn arrangements at the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif and to marginalize the claims of Muslims to the holy site. In the last several years, thousands of national religious Jewish pilgrims have ascended the Mount, including groups of rabbis, women, Members of Knesset and recently, soldiers in uniform.
These religious ideologues, known as Temple Movement activists, heighten their activities during festival – or High Holiday – periods and over the last year, they have progressively set new records for ascents. On Tisha B’Av, a high of more than 1,000 Temple Movement activists ascended. If the trend continues, this High Holiday period could exceed all previous numbers, just months after the major crisis in July.
