| Yisrael Ariel | |
| Synagogue: | Yamit |
| Synagogueposition: | Chief Rabbi |
| Organisation: | The Temple Institute |
| Organisationposition: | Founder |
| Birth Date: | 15 August 1939 |
| Birth Name: | Yisrael Stieglitz |
| Dynasty: | Ruzhin |
| Parents: | Moshe and Esther Stieglitz |
| Birth Place: | Kiryat Motzkin, Mandatory Palestine |
| Office1: | Chief Rabbi of Yamit |
| Term End1: | 1982 |
| Office2: | Founder of The Temple Institute |
Rabbi Yisrael Ariel (Hebrew: ישראל אריאל, born Yisrael Stieglitz[1] 15 August 1939) was the chief rabbi of the evacuated Israeli settlement of Yamit in the Sinai Peninsula during the years when the Sinai was controlled by Israel, and the founder of the Temple Institute (Machon HaMikdash).[2] His brother, Rabbi Yaakov Ariel, served as the rosh yeshiva in the yeshiva in Yamit and later was the chief rabbi of Ramat Gan.
Ariel is a graduate of the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva.[2] As a young man, Ariel served in the Paratroopers Brigade unit that captured the Temple Mount in the Six-Day War.[2]
For the 1981 Knesset elections, Ariel ran as number two on the Kach list, with Rabbi Meir Kahane in the number-one spot. His involvement predates the party's split after the death of party leader Rabbi Kahane in 1990 (who was assassinated by Egyptian El Sayyid Nosair), and the party's later designation as a terrorist Jewish group by the United States and Israel in 2001.[3]
As of 2006, aside from being the head of the Temple Institute, he is also involved in an attempt to revive the Sanhedrin.
In December 2006, he was briefly arrested and interrogated by Israeli police after confronting General Elazar Stern.
In 2015, he described Jewish religious terrorism suspects who were banned from entering the West Bank due to vandalism, as praiseworthy.[4]
He also criticized gay people who walked on the Temple Mount, and suggested that some earthquakes were divine retribution from God as a result of gay people walking on the mount.[5]