Jewish Zealots Talk of Inflaming Arab World

Jewish zealots are talking of a nightmare scenario that could inflame the Mideast - an attack on the sacred Muslim mosques on Jerusalem's Temple Mount.

"They are saying openly that something should be done to create chaos, so that out of the chaos will come salvation," said Naftaly Werzburger, a lawyer who defends right-wing Israelis suspected of violent attacks against Palestinians.

"They mentioned Dr. Baruch Goldstein [who killed 30 Palestinians at Hebron's Tomb of the Patriarch in 1994] and the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin as acts that changed the political course,"

Israel security takes the talk seriously.

The reason for the revival of the mosque attack idea is that Jewish extremists believe this is a new time of crisis - and it began "the moment [Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon made a U-turn in his policy," Werzburger, 47, said.

He referred to Sharon's plan to "disengage" from the Palestinians by uprooting settlements in the Gaza Strip - a plan Sharon will discuss with President Bush at the White House on Wednesday.

The Israeli extreme right refuses to accept the plan, and the secret service is taking the most extreme measures as a precaution.

For example, it took the unusual step of holding a fiery settler leader, Noam Federman, for many months under administrative detention, something usually reserved for Palestinian terrorists.