While Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s video tour from Jerusalem omits Muslim sites, Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, it does include a model of the Third Temple some Jewish groups want in place of it.
The iconic mosque and shrine are located on Temple Mount, one of the holiest sites in the world for Muslims, Christians and Jews. The video posted by the State Department shows Pompeo visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Western Wall, followed by a model of the Third Temple, which some groups want to erect on Temple Mount triggering concerns that Muslim sites would be affected.
The Third Temple plays an important eschatological role in Judaism and is associated with the era of the Jewish Messiah. While most Jewish-Orthodox scholars believe the Messiah will ultimately rebuild the Temple, some hardline religious organizations call for an immediate construction of it in the present times.
In the video the model is accompanied by the words of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking about the Golan heights, calling it “hard-fought” real estate.
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