Protecting Heritage & ‘Jerusalem Syndrome’: Then and now

“Jerusalem syndrome” is a term referring to a cluster of religiously oriented psychological phenomena and acute psychotic episodes associated with visiting Jerusalem. Individuals affected by the syndrome may develop intense religious delusions, including the belief that they are biblical figures or messianic personalities. In many cases, recovery requires psychiatric treatment and removal from the city and its highly charged religious environment.

Years ago, when I was a young archaeologist, I worked as the Israel Antiquities Authority’s supervisor for the development project that was being conducted in the “Western Wall Tunnels” (the excavations conducted to the north of the open prayer area of the Western Wall (the “Kotel” in Hebrew), in charge of making sure that the archaeological heritage at the site was not damaged. Due to this job, I visited the Western Wall on a daily basis, and I soon became familiar with many of the faces and behavior of the regular visitors and devotees at the Kotel, as well as a large selection of the short-term visitors and pilgrims as well.

One of the things that stood out for me at the time, through the eyes of someone without therapeutic training, was the inordinately large amount of people that seemed to be somewhat neurodivergent, and exhibited behaviors that hinted that they were highly emotionally activated, often with strong religious and even messianic content manifested in their behavior. This included people who were dressed up as biblical figures (such as King David); those who prayed non-stop, at all times of day and night, throughout the year; and several who walked around talking or shouting loudly, whether to themselves or at other visitors at the Kotel.

At the time, I was quite puzzled at this activity, and after consulting with professional therapists and reading about the topic, I realized that what I was witnessing was classic manifestations of the “Jerusalem Syndrome.”

Fast forward some 35 years, and I had not thought about this for a long time.

Then, this week, I went to the Knesset, to participate in the discussions in the Education and Culture Committee on the proposed bill to create a new governmental authority in charge of heritage in the Judea and Samaria/West Bank. I came to the committee with the aim of speaking out against this proposed bill, in agreement with just about all archaeologists in Israel, that not only would this proposed authority not help in protecting antiquities in these areas, but, in fact, it would be detrimental. The proposed authority would have less legal “teeth” as opposed to the current unit who is charge of this – the “Archaeological Staff Officer,” which was part of the “Civil Administration,” the administrative unit, part of the IDF, which was in charge of all civil administration in these regions (as required by international law). Instead of expanding the “Archaeological Staff Officer’s” budget and staff, a new and unproven governmental body was being created, which smacked mainly of at attempt to annex more aspects relating to Judea and Samaria/the West Bank to Israel.

Indeed, there is a lot of destruction of antiquities in these regions in recent years, and I, and most of colleagues have been complaining about this for years and demanding that more funds and resources be given to the “Archaeological Staff Officer.” Apparently, mostly due to political reasoning, and as we move closer to elections, some politicians on the right of the political spectrum have taken this on as their pet project, since they see this as a way to put a spotlight on their supposed care for the ancient heritage of Israel.

To make things worse, archaeology in Israel, as in fact all scientific research in the country, is currently conducting an uphill and continuous battle against efforts to marginalized and boycott Israeli science and Israeli researchers. Daily, we see this in a deep change in how many colleagues abroad relate to us, manifested in invitations to professional meetings, success in applications for research funding, rejection of papers submitted to journal for non-academic reasons, and other related issues. This has a profound impact on scientific research in Israel, as archaeology and all other fields of science, are highly dependent on international collaborations and funding. In fact, we all feel that we are currently “in the trenches,” fighting back, sometimes succeeding, and unfortunately, sometimes not, against these boycott activities.

To our chagrin, the proposed bill for the new authority will make our efforts fighting against the boycott more difficult. This new authority, which will be an Israeli governmental body, will run counter to most interpretations of the legal status of the Judea and Samaria/West Bank, which see it as an occupied territory, and as such, should not be administered directly by the government of Israel but by the Civil Administration. And in addition, in the proposed law, the new authority will have legal authority to annex areas in which there are archaeological sites, both in Israeli-controlled “Area C” as well as in Palestinian-controlled “Area B.” As such, colleagues abroad will see the activities of this proposed heritage authority as running contrary to international law (as opposed to the “Archaeological Staff Officer” which is recognized by international law). And, unfortunately, this will give more ammunition to those claiming that archaeology in Israel should be boycotted!

So how is this related to the “Jerusalem Syndrome?” Visiting the Knesset and in particular the Education and Culture Committee, and seeing the people there, both politicians, government representatives and various visitors, I could not but notice the unusually large percentage of people who seemed to be emotionally activated, downright delusion, and even somewhat messianic in character. I immediately was reminded of the times I spent at the Western Wall years ago.

What does this mean? I would suggest that this might very well show us, from another angle, something that many in Israel have felt for a few years now: our country has been hijacked (through democratic process) by people who seem to have a version of the “Jerusalem Syndrome!”

The time has come, and this hopefully will occur in the soon to be held elections, to democratically take back our country, and not enable messianic and delusional people to lead the State of Israel! It’s time for all of us to recover from the effects of the “Jerusalem Syndrome!”