After a two-month investigation, three men were arrested, all of them from the Lifta Valley, a Mediterranean village near Jerusalem, a place of placid springs and terraced gardens. Dubbed “The Lifta Gang” by the Israeli media, the men confessed to being members of a Jewish underground group, some of whom had banded together to destroy the Dome of the Rock and seize control of the Temple Mount with the ultimate aim of rebuilding the Temple, thus preparing the way for the coming of the Messiah.
