He knew exactly why.
A deep chasm gapes between zealous Ultra-Orthodoxy and extreme leftism. But in one place these two extremes meet: in their opposition to any connection between the State of Israel and the holy stature of Israel.
When the Holy Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed and our nation lost its Land, the Torah of Israel contracted from a national culture to the dimensions of religion, alone. This religion managed to wondrously preserve Jewish identity during the exile.
Classic ultra-Orthodoxy does not accept the Return to Zion in its secular/Zionist garb as a process that conceals within it a dimension of holiness. It is interested in preserving the religion in its exile configuration. It virulently opposes the renewed connection between faith, the Land of Israel and Israeli statehood into an entire culture.
That is why the Temple Mount is detestable to Rabbi Rabinovitz and all that he represents.
Because we can still turn the Kotel into a religious community “shteibel” (small synagogue) – and continue fighting, as we are accustomed.
But we cannot do that to the site of the Holy Temple.
The Temple Mount is the home of the connection between Israeli existence and Israeli destiny. It is the connection that voids the ultra-Orthodoxy of Rabinovitz and the secularism of Beilin.
It would not be a mistake to say that in this respect, the Temple Mount is ‘anti-religious’.
Over the years, Rabbi Rabinovitz has fulfilled his negative mission efficiently, far from the public eye. But this week, he took center stage when Vice President Pence (who is in great part responsible for the Trump Jerusalem Declaration) attempted to fortify Israel’s faltering status in the Kotel Plaza and deliver a speech there.
Suddenly, Rabbi Rabinovitz assumed the stature of a prime minister…something more powerful than the Chief Rabbi and the Pope put together. Rabinovitz prohibited(!) the Vice President of the US from delivering a speech near the Western Wall Plaza (which has no special sanctity) and prevented the fortification of Israel’s sovereignty at the Western Wall.
Make no mistake. Rabinovitz is simply Netanyahu’s puppet. If Netanyahu would have wanted Vice President Pence’s speech, Rabinovitz would have remained silent and would not have dared to endanger his job. And even if he would have made a statement, it would have interested no one.After all, Pence did not turn to somebody called Rabinovitz. Pence spoke with Netanyahu. And Netanyahu answered him through the fig leaf – Rabinovitz.
Why doesn’t Netanyahu want Pence to speak at the Kotel and to fortify Israeli sovereignty there? He simply fears the Arab violence that may ensue. But that fear of asserting Israeli sovereignty corrodes it. If we continue to surrender to the threats of violence from every wild-eyed Arab who doesn’t like Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem – even when the greatest superpower in the world stands behind it – our grandchildren will have to visit the Kotel with an escort of tanks.
So here we have it. All the forces that are betraying Jerusalem – from the Left, from the Right, and from the Ultra-Orthodox – have come together against the best of the nations of the world, who look on in amazement and do not understand why the Jews are turning their backs on their holy city.