The recent wave of terrorist attacks in Israel over the right of Jews to go up to the Temple Mount has sharpened a bitter ideological argument that goes back decades. The debate pits the mainstream ultra-Orthodox society with a small fringe movement within that community, collectively identified as Neturei Karta (“Guardians of the City” in Aramaic). Neturei Karta is an ideological group within the ultra-Orthodox community, numbering just a few hundred families in Israel and elsewhere. It opposes Zionism and the very existence of the State of Israel. Adherents to this ideology believe that the establishment of a Jewish state before the coming of the Messiah was illegitimate and continues to be the cause of wars and terrorist attacks.
As a whole, the ultra-Orthodox community opposes visiting the Temple Mount on religious grounds. It has a complicated attitude toward Zionism, too. Nevertheless, it finds the blatant pro-Palestinian activities of Neturei Karta repugnant.