In the Name of the Temple

Description

Synopsis

June 1967: faced with the threat from the Arab states, Israel went to war, occupied the Sinai peninsula, the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and most significantly, East Jerusalem. For the first time in 2,000 years, Jewish soldiers trod the mount which is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a holy site for both Islam and Judaism, where the ruins of Herod’s Temple stand. For the religious soldiers who took part in the victory, this event was a divine sign. Believing that this involved the Land of Israel given to the Jewish people by God, the militants of this messianic movement, allied to the nationalist right, opposed any territorial concession, and prepared for the next stage: the reconstruction of the Jewish Temple in the place of the holy mosques.

In the Name of the Temple recounts the irresistible rise of Jewish fundamentalism in Israeli politics and the development of settlements in the West Bank, which are making any Israel-Palestine peace process impossible. Is a new Israel emerging, leading the Middle East to a point of no-return?

Director

Charles Enderlin a journalist and writer was born in Paris 1945. In 1981, Antenne 2’s correspondent in Jerusalem, and in 1991 Grand reporter and Bureau Chief of France 2 in Jerusalem. Since 1992, he has worked as a Middle East correspondent for France 2.