A Major “What If” Scenario

We’ve already seen several holy sites hit by missiles fragments in Jerusalem and because of that these sites will most likely be closed during the holiest times for Christians. But what would happen it the Dome of the Rock was actually hit directly? In an article from The Media Line they discuss what they think would happen:

The Temple Mount, home to Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, has come dangerously close to damage in recent weeks as Iranian ballistic missiles and falling debris have landed in Jerusalem’s Old City, raising fears about what could happen if one of the world’s most sensitive religious sites were struck directly. Revered by Muslims, Jews, and Christians, the compound sits at the center of religious claims, political tensions, and conspiracy theories that could turn a single hit into a global crisis. For Jews, the Temple Mount is believed to be the site of the First and Second Temples. For Muslims, it is home to Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. For Christians, it forms part of the sacred landscape of Jerusalem and is associated with Jesus’ life and teaching. Few places in the world carry so much religious, historical, and political weight in so small a space.

The article points out that the mount is run by the Islamic Waqf with Israel providing security. And it also notes that the mount and Jerusalem is a holy site to both Sunni and Shiites with the latter seeing it as a politically ideological one. Any strike on it would be a volatile one. As I mentioned earlier pieces of shrapnel and parts bombs have already come close. Some are wondering if Iran is intentionally targeting the area and they lack the accuracy to hit specific sites. Others think they know exactly what they’re doing so they can blame Israel for any damages. Regardless the question remains:

What would happen if a missile hit the Temple Mount? This is no longer a theoretical question.

A Jewish Plot

One Jewish media figure thinks that Iran is looking to accuse Israel:

Hillel Fuld, a veteran high-tech marketing influencer and one of the best-known pro-Israel social media figures, told The Media Line that “everyone would blame the Jews and conspiracy theories would fly.”

“I go back and forth about whether the Iranian missiles are super targeted or firing in all directions,” Fuld said. “I really don’t know. Any normal, rational person would say there is no way Iran is targeting the Temple Mount. But Iran is so unhinged that I would not put it past them, especially if they were targeting it so the world would turn on Israel.”

A sizable amount of people feel the same way:

According to many of the more than 100 people who responded this week to a similar question posed by Fuld on X, the world would likely blame Israel and the Jews.

“The world blames Israel,” one respondent wrote. “Riots in the streets worldwide, Jews slaughtered. The truth comes out the next day, and no one cares that it was Iran that caused the destruction because it no longer fits their narrative.”

Another X follower wrote, “Iran and bot farms scream Israel did it, false flag, and try to stir up [a] march on Jerusalem.”

Another public figure online agrees that Iran wants it to happen:

Rabbi Tuly Weisz, founder of Israel365, who has worked closely with Christian and religious Zionists on issues related to Jewish sovereignty in Judea and Samaria and the Temple Mount, said that if Iran were to hit Al-Aqsa Mosque, it might even take credit.

“In some twisted way, they would probably try to prove it as being good for their version of Islam,” Weisz told The Media Line.

Weisz says that any outrage would be short-lived. He also thinks that everyone will use it for their own purposes:

“I feel like everyone would just continue to use it to support their narrative,” Weisz said.

He added that a country like Saudi Arabia might even “rejoice” at the elimination of the third-holiest site in Islam, as it could strengthen its position as the leading custodian of Islamic holy sites.

They Want A Third Temple

A long standing conspiracy is that Israel would love to see the mount destroyed to make way for a third temple, something actually fits in Bible prophecy:

A direct hit on the compound could trigger a chain reaction far beyond Jerusalem, feeding long-running suspicions, inflaming religious passions, and intensifying diplomatic pressure on Israel regardless of who launched the strike. Those fears are rooted in more than the current war. The mount’s sensitivity has long fueled conspiracy theories. Since at least the 1920s, during the era of Jerusalem Grand Mufti Hajj Amin al-Husseini, claims have circulated that Jews sought to damage or destroy the Muslim holy sites there to clear space for a Third Temple.

Even now the logic persists:

Similar narratives persist even today. There have been repeated rumors alleging that Israel is excavating what it calls the Kotel Tunnels beneath the compound in a way that may weaken the structure, so that if a missile were to strike, the mosque would collapse and clear the path for rebuilding. This rumor has never been substantiated.

As if we need to add more fuel to the fire, Tucker Carlson thinks Israel would be behind the destruction of the site, even though no official Israeli stance prevails:

Claims about Jewish intentions toward the site have also circulated in Western media in recent weeks. American commentator Tucker Carlson has accused Israel, in interviews on his show, of seeking to rebuild the Temple and advance a vision of a “Greater Israel.” Carlson, in one recent episode, accused Chabad Hasidim of “pushing in a pretty subtle way … for the reconstruction of the Third Temple.”

Carlson and another guest mused about it and even connected evangelicals pushing it as well using Bible prophecy to support their goals. The guest added this as evidence:

…the basic components of that vision include “the creation of the state, the nation-state of Israel, which happened in 1948. And then you need to have the building of the Third Temple, which requires the destruction of Al-Aqsa Mosque … which could happen during this war, given what we’ve seen so far.”

He added, “There’s actually talk among Israelis of using this plan to ignite a war between the Arabs and the Persians. … They also talk about the war of Gog and Magog between Israel and the entire world. Then, the coming of the Jewish Messiah, the creation of the Greater Israel project, the return of all Jews from the Diaspora. … If you just observe geopolitical events, we’re seeing these events converge together today.”

It’s Not A New Thing

Again, the State of Israel and even current Rabbis aren’t pushing for it:

Jews have prayed for the rebuilding of the Temple for almost 2,000 years, since its destruction in 70 CE by the Romans. But this is not the official policy of the State of Israel, nor is it supported by many modern-day rabbis, some of whom still forbid Jews from praying on the Temple Mount.

But we’ve known for a long time that many Jews do want that third temple built:

Weisz and Fuld said that members of the Jewish community have been preparing for the return of the Third Temple and are even making the instruments that would be used on the mount. They stressed, though, that these are fringe groups and that the government is unlikely to make any dramatic policy changes, even if damage were to occur on the Temple Mount.

Prime Minister Netanyahu is clear that no such plans are coming from him or his office:

Recent political responses reinforce that point. Even in August 2024, on the Jewish fast day of Tisha B’Av, which commemorates the destruction of the Temple, when National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ascended the Temple Mount and suggested that the status quo had changed, the Prime Minister’s Office quickly pushed back.

“It is the government and the prime minister who determine policy on the Temple Mount,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement. “Israel’s policy on the Temple Mount has not changed; this is how it has been, and this is how it will be.”

Going back to our original premise the ramifications of direct strike on the Temple Mount would reverberate beyond a local dispute:

Whatever the intent behind the strikes near Jerusalem, the risk is already clear: A hit on the Temple Mount would not remain a local military incident for long. It would almost certainly become a religious, political, and diplomatic crisis reaching far beyond the battlefield.

Weisz has an interesting take on what could happen:

Weisz, though, said he holds a different vision for the mount, one that could emerge if such an attack were to reshape realities on the ground.

“My dream is for a synagogue, church, and mosque to be built on the Temple Mount like the Abrahamic Family House in the United Arab Emirates,” Weisz told The Media Line, referencing the biblical verse in Isaiah 56:7, which says, “for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.”

He added, “If the territory became available, that would be a beautiful way to end this for Israel and the region.”

Unfortunately, what he’s describing sounds more like the one world religion seen in Bible prophecy and it would set up the Antichrist’s eventual desecration of that third temple. As for me, nothing good will come from that.