“For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples” (Isaiah 56:7)

According to an Army Radio expose the Israeli government has been subsidizing nonprofit organizations that call for the rebuilding of the Third Temple on the Temple Mount.

According to the Jerusalem Post, over the past ten years the Education Ministry and the Culture and Sport Ministry have transferred between NIS 300,000 and 700,000 to the Temple Institute. The Institute, founded in 1987 is, according to their website “a non-profit educational and religious organization located in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City. The Institute is dedicated to every aspect of the Biblical commandment to build the Holy Temple of G-d on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. Our short-term goal is to rekindle the flame of the Holy Temple in the hearts of mankind through education. Our long-term goal is to do all in our limited power to bring about the building of the Holy Temple in our time. Thus, the Institute’s efforts include raising public awareness about the Holy Temple, and the central role that it occupies in the spiritual life of mankind. The many areas of activities conducted by the Institute combine research, seminars, publications, and conferences, as well as the production of educational materials.The major focus of the Institute is its efforts towards the beginning of the actual rebuilding of the Holy Temple.” This past year alone the group received NIS 282,000 from the Education Ministry and another NIS 134,000 from the Culture Ministry according to the Post.

The Institute’s website has aroused a bit of controversy due to pictures posted of the Temple Mount showing no sign of the Dome of the Rock or the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The expose additionally revealed that Israel allows young women who opt to perform National Service in lieu of Army Duty to work as unpaid tour guides and instructors for the Temple Institute.

The Education Ministry responded to the Army Radio report, saying: “The nonprofit meets criteria for receiving subsidies that go toward instructing students who visit the institute, and this has been the case for over 10 years now.”

“The Temple Institute deals with research, and it is supported by the ministry in accordance with professional criteria that has nothing to do with directly supporting the individual who heads it,” a Culture and Sport Ministry spokesperson said in response.

“Thus far we have found nothing that would raise suspicions of incitement or anything unusual as it relates to the temple. In light of the Army Radio report, it is the ministry’s intention to bring this matter to the attention of our legal department.”

“For over 25 years the Temple Institute has stood at the forefront of research, education and preparation towards the time of the rebuilding of the Holy Temple,” a spokesperson for the Temple Institute told The Jerusalem Post. “The Institute’s efforts have been recognized and awarded by Israel’s Ministry of Education. Its trailblazing educational materials and scholarly publications have revolutionized these difficult areas of Torah knowledge for young and old alike.”

“Over one million people from all over the world, of every background and religion, have visited the Institute’s exhibition located in Jerusalem’s Old City,” the spokesperson said. “The Temple Institute’s website is the most popular and educational web site on the subject of the Holy Temple in the world.”

“The rebuilding of the Holy Temple, called by the prophet Isaiah a ‘house of prayer for all nations,’ is a positive commandment, and the vision of the Temple’s rebuilding, which will usher in an unparalleled era of world peace and harmony, is the central theme of the entire Torah. The Temple Institute is proud to represent the concept which has been heartfelt prayer of the Jewish people for two millennia.”