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He related a conversation with Yoel Lerner who was imprisoned for trying to blow up the Dome of the Rock, the Muslim holy site, because he believed that an ancient Jewish temple stood there before it was destroyed.
He expressed messianic Zionism in saying the "Messiah will come to earth only after the temple is rebuilt and made ready for him," so Jews must assure it's done. These views are prominent in high places and throughout Israeli society; that is, religious fervor for a Greater Israel for Jews only, a Jewish state excluding all Arabs with violence an acceptable tool to remove them, and conflict will continue until they're gone.
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency's (JTA) Report on Jewish Extremists
On June 24, JTA wrote a special report on Jewish extremists in which it described "the face of radical Jewish nationalism in Israel....a movement of settler youths, rabbis, leaders and supporters determined to hold onto the West Bank at any cost." They represent a minority, but are a "vocal and increasingly violent constituency of the Jewish settler movement" rampaging against Palestinians and Israelis, confident that God is on their side, and one day a "Torah-based theocracy (will) triumph over the State of Israel."
Rabbi Yisrael Iriel is one of its adherents in preaching Jewish superiority and unwillingness to cede any part of biblical Israel to non-Jews. He's one of a "small group of (extremist) rabbis who provide the theological and ideological underpinnings for radical settlers."
The Israeli human rights group Yesh Din believes they number about 1000 but exert considerable influence nonetheless. They're an extremist fringe element, determined to use violence to achieve their goals, and are supported by other West Bank settlers. One young adherent expressed their agenda by saying "I think God chose a good and beautiful land for us," and we'll fight to keep it. If so, it makes peaceful resolution harder than ever to achieve, especially with political hard-liners in charge and most Israelis supporting them.
Hate Literature Distributed to Israeli Soldiers
Until discontinued on July 20, a booklet published by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, in cooperation with Rabbi Shmuel Eliahu, titled, "On Either Side of the Border" was given to IDF soldiers containing hateful fiction purported to be true. It suggested that the Pope and Vatican cardinals sympathized with Hezbollah's struggle and conspired with the organization to kill Jews. It claimed that the Vatican organized Auschwitz tours to teach its members how to do it, and that its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was invited to join a delegation to tour France, Poland, Italy and the Vatican.
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