The judaization of Jerusalem by Israel has become obvious for almost everybody through the continuous actions performed by the Israeli government and the concerned Jewish organizations as well as the preparations being made by the extremist Jewish organizations to build the so-called Third Temple (Al-Haykal) on the ruins of the Dome of the Rock. These organizations have increased in number and their activities have become more serious and overt in particular the so-called Committee of Preparation for Al-Haykal led by a Hasidic rabbi known as Yousuf Elboum who belongs to a gang of Hasidim called Ghar which had built several settlements such as Emanuel in the West Bank. This rabbi has been trying to realize his goals through both deeds and words. For example he used to take some of his men and other rabbis to pray near Al-Aqsa Mosque every month to declare his intentions openly in order to stress the right of the Jews to Al-Haykal Mount and to convince the whole world of this right. Despite the taboos in the Jewish faith that prohibit the entry by Jews to the Mosque—except by the chief rabbi—so as not to sacrilege the “Holiest of the Holy” this rabbi has insisted on entering the Mosque based on a religious ruling by other extremist rabbis who legalized this move thereby allowing Jews to enter the Mosque and pray there. Moreover this rabbi rejects the idea of building Al-Haykal only after the appearance of the Jewish Messiah as justified by some other rabbis; he sees no relationship between the ideas. He added that they had performed many duties without waiting for the Messiah and they would not be considered fully Jewish without praying at Al-Haykal because most of their sacred books include many rules and rituals concerning Al-Haykal and without observing these sacred rituals they would not be perfect Jews.
He pointed out that there was no area of the Jewish faith (Hakha) without problems however there are solutions for each problem with Jewish law and the chief rabbi Shlomo Ghorn had already solved the problem of the Mosque of the Dome of the Rock. This rabbi the former rabbi of the Israeli army advised the Israeli leader who occupied Jerusalem to pull down the Mosque during the military operations in 1967 making use of the chaos of the war.
When asked about the consequences of this the chief rabbi compared this case with the destruction of the second temple in the Old Testament when the Jews had been taken captive to Babylon and most of them did not go to Palestine because they were poor and depended on the Jews of Babylon; however the first thing they did was rebuild Al-Haykal which made their return from captivity more meaningful and he reminded them of what is written in the Old Testament: “Build me a tent and I will live in it.”
He also said that the Jews would never realize the concept of holiness unless they rebuilt Al-Haykal because they are a holy people and they had not done anything since they occupied the mountain even though it is the holiest spot for the Jews. This rabbi has been preparing for a large ceremony called the “Feast of Al-Haykal” scheduled for September 1999. This ceremony will include performances of the Jewish rituals and other activities including music in addition to speeches delivered by some enthusiastic rabbis emphasizing their plans to rebuild the Third Temple. This rabbi announced that his movement would take little children of the rabbis and raise them in a secluded place to ensure their purity and chastity and to be the future rabbis . Moreover he is extremely concerned with finding the Red Cow which is considered the greatest sacrifice and scapegoat of Al-Haykal. They have been quite active in the Institution of Al-Haykal established in the 1980s to prepare for rebuilding Al-Haykal. This Institute is concerned with the studies of Al-Haykal such as equipment need and clothes to be worn and it includes approximately 60 models out of a possible 90 built to scale. Moreover this Institute presents a film for thousands of visitors including students showing them the religious rituals and handing out booklets written in Hebrew English and French. This Institute was established by a friend of the rabbi Me’eir Kahana who was assassinated a few years ago and it is supported by the government as well as others such as Anhagy Youctail the assistant of the chief of the Religious Nationalist Party and the Minister of Education Issac Levi.
The appeal to rebuild Al-Haykal on the ruins of the Dome of the Rock is not a new idea but rather it was suggested by Ghosh Ammunim as reported in its periodical Naqudah in 1986: “What is suitable for the land of Israel has to be the same for Al-Haykal Mount. Since we have hastened the advent of the Messiah in order to return to our land we must do the same for Al-Haykal.”
The number of those who appeal to do so has increased recently in addition to other members of the extremist army—active and reserved personnel—wearing a decorated cap (Al-Kbah) and who have been in serious positions in the army especially those from the Intelligence Department. One of those reserved officers warned that he had known some of those who were graduates of the religious schools (Yashevout) and who joined the army and were enthusiastic to rebuild Al-Haykal. Some of those could be irresponsible and they might bomb the Dome of the Rock at night using kilograms of explosives and army vehicles thereby they will be able to pull the Dome down to the Rock.
Finally this is very likely to happen especially if the Arab countries continue their policies of condemnation through words without taking any serious or effective procedures or reactions to stop these plans.
