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There is perhaps no city in the world whose name evokes more emotion than Jerusalem, even among those who have never set foot in Israel. As the focal point of Judaism, the birthplace of Christianity and a holy city in Islam, Jerusalem triggers intense religious passion and heated political debate.
In his new book, The Fight for Jerusalem: Radical Islam, the West, and the Future of the Holy City, Dore Gold emerges from emotional and ideological discussions of Jerusalem with a rational explanation of the city’s religious dimensions. Gold, a former Israeli U.N. Ambassador, chronicles the deep Jewish connection to Jerusalem, from Biblical times to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. He also explains the varying Christian views on the city and notes conflicting attitudes among Muslim scholars on the importance of Jerusalem in Islam.
With Jerusalem’s long history in mind, Gold refutes the notion expressed by Palestinian officials that a Jewish temple never stood in Jerusalem. Palestinian efforts to rewrite Jerusalem’s past, Gold asserts, are part of a larger effort to delegitimize the Israeli claim to the city. Palestinians have also tried to destroy any archaeological evidence proving that the two Jewish Temples stood in Jerusalem.
At the conclusion of his eloquent and incisive history, Gold shares his views on the city’s role in fighting radical Islam’s war against the West. He argues that if Israel buckles under international pressure to relinquish holy sites in Jerusalem to a terrorist-led Palestinian government, jihadists worldwide will be emboldened by a sense of victory. By encouraging a division of Jerusalem, Gold contends, Western diplomats “may well believe that they are lowering the flames of radical Islamic rage, but in fact they will only be turning up those flames to heights that have not been seen before.”
Forty years after Israel reunified Jerusalem, The Fight for Jerusalem is essential reading for those interested in understanding Israel’s role in safeguarding the Holy City for all faiths.
