200px Yoel Lerner (; 1941 - July 2014) was a linguist, translator, educator, and Jewish terrorist, who was convicted of crimes including seeking to destroy the

Dome of the Rock The Dome of the Rock () is an Islamic shrine at the center of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the Temple Mount in the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City of Jerusalem. It is the world's oldest surviving work of Islamic architecture, the List_of_the_ol ...

in Jerusalem.

Personal life

Lerner was born as "Joel Lerner" in 1941 in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, and grew up in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. In 1960, he immigrated to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and studied at the

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...

, where he earned a BA in Hebrew and Semitic Philology. He became a student of Meir Kahane and a member of the Jewish Defense League; and later became an aide to Kahane. He was married and had eight children."Israel uncovers overthrow plot," UPI, August 11, 1978, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cfgjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fNsFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1095%2C2573337 Lerner and his family adopted an Orthodox lifestyle, moved to Kiryat Shmona - where he was a teacher - and then returned to Jerusalem.

Career as teacher and translator

Lerner taught in many secondary educational institutions, and translated essays and books. His translations included ''The "Shabbes Goy": A Study in Halakhic Flexibility'' (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1989).

Early crimes

In February 1973, Lerner was arrested in a case of arson involving a fire in a shop selling Christian missionary books. That August, he and JDL secretary Yosef Schneider were both sentenced to six months in prison for arson. Seven other JDL members received suspended sentences ranging from one to six months. In 1975, Lerner was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to harm

United States Secretary of Defense The United States secretary of defense (acronym: SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the United States federal executive departments, executive department of the United States Armed Forces, U.S. Armed Forces, a ...

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...

. Newspaper reports said that Lerner "had expressed threats to assassinate Kissinger"."Israeli Security Tightened as Mobs Jeer Kissinger", The Montreal Gazette, August 22, 1975, p. 2 (UPI), https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4JcuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=s6EFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2478%2C1612376

Gal

In 1978, Lerner was arraigned on charges of conspiracy and illegal possession of weapons. Israeli prosecutors accused him of being the founder of an underground ring of militants, and of recruiting young students to overthrow the government, establish a state based on religious law, and kill Arabs. Lerner called the group "Gal", a Hebrew acronym for "redemption of Israel". Members were issued membership cards, given code names, and assigned specific duties such as planning, organization, sabotage, and spying. Some received training in karate. Lerner served a three-year sentence.

Temple Mount Bombings

In 1982, Lerner formed a small youth organization whose aim was to destroy the Dome of the Rock. He allegedly organized a field trip to an army base in the south to steal explosives to be used in blowing up the

."Mosque Plotter Sentenced" (UPI), https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ypVTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LYcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2929%2C938340 He was sentenced to five years in jail, but 2 ½ years of his sentence was suspended. His purpose was to make it possible to rebuild the

Temple Mount The Temple Mount (), also known as the Noble Sanctuary (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, 'Haram al-Sharif'), and sometimes as Jerusalem's holy esplanade, is a hill in the Old City of Jerusalem, Old City of Jerusalem that has been venerated as a ...

site.

Outlook and legacy

Mark Juergensmeyer identified Lerner as a Jewish religious terrorist, writing that he "yearned for a Jewish society in Israel. He hoped for the restoration of the ancient temple in Jerusalem, the exclusive right of Jews to settle on the West Bank of the Jordan River, and the creation of a state based on biblical law."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lerner, Yoel 1941 births 2014 deaths Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Anti-Christian sentiment in Israel Israeli criminals Israeli Kahanists American emigrants to Israel American people convicted of arson American Kahanists Burials at Har HaMenuchot Prisoners and detainees of Israel Zionist political violence