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.

Neturei Karta’s activities over the past few weeks, which coincide with the escalating security situation in Israel, have infuriated many in the ultra-Orthodox community.

So, for example, while Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was lashing out against Israel at the United Nations’ General Assembly on Sept. 30, Neturei Karta extremists voiced their support for him by demonstrating outside the United Nations with Palestinian flags and signs condemning Israel. In July, those same extremists participated in the al-Quds march in Berlin alongside thousands of Muslims chanting, “Israel murders children!” They also showed their support for Iran at a New York demonstration supporting the nuclear accords.