The Israeli Army has in the past couple of days, deployed additional air defense systems in various places in Israel. The systems have been deployed in such a way that they appear to be intended to provide defense against possible rocket attacks from the north. This of course in contrast to the “routine” rocket attacks from the Gaza strip, mainly aimed at the kibbutzim and villages at the Gaza border and occasionally at Ashkelon.
The explanation Israeli politicians come up with for this north facing deployment, is a coordinated attempt by Iran to attack Israel from various fronts, whereby Iran has mobilized both Hamas (in the south) and Hezbollah (in the north). Indeed, there have been rocket attacks last week from Lebanon, with forty rockets being fired towards Israel, causing damage but (luckily) no casualties, rocket attacks from Syria, with six rockets being fired towards Israel, with only two reaching Israeli territory in the Golan Heights, without causing damage, and several attacks on Israel from the Gaza strip, aimed at kibbutzim located at the border area, as well as Sderot.
The discussion on these “coordinated” attacks led by Iran of course serves Israel’s political interests but is mainly meant to obscure the real reason behind these attacks. And the Israeli government is well aware of the real reason because they themselves provided it to our enemies. It is called Al-Aqsa.
The Al-Aqsa mosque, on the edge of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, has always been a sensitive place for the Arabs, and is considered one of the holy places of Islam (after Mecca and Medina). And this is even more enhanced during the month of Ramadan, and when the Muslims feel threatened by Israel. And no doubt, the (mostly young) Muslims who barricaded themselves last week in the Al-Aqsa Mosque were not exactly intend on quiet praying like most of the other people present in the mosque. The intention of the Israeli government to allow Jews onto the Temple Mount during Passover convinced these radical young Muslims that the Mosque needed to be protected.
The Israeli Police did not wait to see what might or might not happen and during two consecutive nights, the Border Police entered the Mosque, and while people were still praying, used excessive force to remove the Muslims who came to protect the Mosque and not to pray. The violence of the police was excessive even for Israeli Border Police standards, but in a television interview, the chief of Police, Kobi Shabtai, while being “unhappy” about the pictures of Israeli policemen beating people, he concluded that the intervention at the mosque was necessary to “protect the Jewish People and preserve public order”.
The decision of the Israeli government to allow Jews onto the Temple Mount, justified the actions of the police, whereby punishment was handed down (and very violently so) even before a (possible) crime was committed.
And thus, on television, pictures were shown of Jews strutting on the Temple Mount as if the place belongs to them, protected by hundreds of Border Policemen and feeling good about themselves and feeling superior as Jews.
After these atrocities, Iran did not need to make attempts to coordinate attacks against Israel. The attack on the Al-Aqsa Mosque was enough to have anybody in a position to react, to do so and thus it rained rockets on Israel the next day. We may be grateful that apparently the Army, who was well aware of the motivations behind the rocket attacks, convinced the government that a very measured response was required in order to prevent dangerous escalation, and thus only limited retribution was handed down against the groups responsible for the rocket attacks and the whole incident appears to be behind us.
This does not mean of course that Iran is no longer interested in destroying Israel and continuously attempting to have their allies on Israel’s borders to attack the “Zionist Entity” but also here, the Israeli people may feel secure that the Israeli Army is alert and aware of Iran’s intentions and acting when required.
There is one peculiar thing about this whole incident, in particular since the Israeli government is today controlled by two extreme groups, one of which is the Haredi parties, who aim to increase Religious influence on the daily lives of the Israeli people.
According to Halacha, it is strictly forbidden for Jews to enter the Temple Mount because of the risk that a Jew would “inadvertently be treading on the ground of the Holy of Holies in error”.
This very clear prohibition has been repeated many times by various religious authority figures and has been disputed only by political figures that attempt to increase Israeli control over the Temple Mount area, no matter if this is a Jewish or a Muslim holy site.
However, where do the Religious Haredi parties stand on this sensitive religious issue? In this government, they are well aware that opposing any attempt to exert Jewish Supremacy on the Temple Mount by the (religious) fascists in this government, would cause its downfall. And with the downfall of the government, the extreme large amounts of money that are now being funneled to the Haredi parties and their institutions would dry up immediately.
So, apparently money does make the world go round, including the pious world of the Haredim. And if it results in the end in an all-out war with Iran and its allies (which according to some military sources, may even happen this year already), so be it. The Haredim will sit in their Yeshivas and say an extra prayer, while young secular Israelis give their lives to defend the Jewish State.
I hope you found this article interesting and I welcome any comments you may have.
If you register on the site, you will be receiving a notice when new articles are posted.
