August 6, 2017 -- Yaakov Lappin, the Temple Mount, and Fake News

I recently came across an article on “Fake News” as being the cause that triggered the Temple Mount crisis last month.  According to Yaakov Lappin, a military and strategic news correspondent, the reason for the demonstrations was the claim that, “Israel wants to take over the holy site and destroy the mosque to make way for a third Temple.”  This is a false narrative that distorts the truth, being imaginary, inaccurate, or simply false propaganda.  It distorts the smooth edges of the truth.  It introduces distortions into the false narrative.  For example, though there are groups of people both inside and outside Israel who promote the building of a third temple or synagogues on the site, there are those who say it could be done without destroying the Al-Aqsa Mosque.  Furthermore, the Israeli government has stated clearly that they will not change the “Status Quo” meaning they are not calling for the destruction of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in order to build a third temple.  Now it certainly seems possible that the idea might have been entertained in the minds of some Israeli officials at some point or another.  However, Prime Minister Netanyahu has repeatedly reaffirmed the “Status Quo.”  If the Israeli government ever changed their minds, this would indeed be alarming, but only then would it be public and opened to honest discussion.