Time of Favor 2000

Menachem [Aki Avni] is a handsome young soldier in the Israeli Defense Force, chosen to lead his own unit made up of fellow students from Rabbi Meltzer [Assi Dayan]‘s West Bank Yeshiva. His close friend Pini [Idan Alterman] stands out as one of the Yeshiva’s star scholars, and Rabbi Meltzer promises Pini his daughter Michal’s hand in marriage. Michal [Tinkerbell], strong-willed and independent, has no interest in marrying Pini, who is frail and in poor health. Instead, she falls for Menachem, and his loyalty to the Rabbi and to Pini is tested as he struggles to choose between Michal and the unit.

“This land of Israel is bought with pain,” says Michal, as she gazes out on the sandy mountains of the West Bank.

Michal is convinced her father is too caught up in the Israeli cause and neglects those closest to him, like her late mother who died of cancer after the Rabbi refused to leave the settlement to seek proper medical care in the city. She resolves to run away and asks Menachem to come with her. But Menachem feels torn by his obligations to Pini and the Rabbi, and ultimately returns to his military base.

Menachem’s unit had been mobilized by the Rabbi with the aim of returning Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock to Israeli control—a holy site in the old city that Muslims use as a mosque (Al-Aqsa) and Jews call Temple Mount. Menachem agrees with the plan in principle, viewing the operation as symbolic rather than purely violent. Yet other military authorities remain wary, fearing the Rabbi’s soldiers could twist into a fanatical force if political winds change.

Michal moves to Jerusalem, and this does not deter Pini, who continues to press his suit. He becomes determined to prove himself within Rabbi Meltzer’s unit while secretly mapping out a terrorist plot with Itamar [Micha Celektar] to destroy the Dome of the Rock by bombing it from below. To win Itamar over, he pretends that Menachem approves the plan, even though Menachem knows nothing of it.

Pini and Itamar depart to carry out the mission, and the rest of Menachem’s unit is taken in by the Israeli government for questioning. After hours of interrogation, Menachem realizes that Pini has betrayed him. Guarded by Israeli Defense Soldiers, Menachem, Michal, and Mookie [Amnon Wolf] pursue Pini and Itamar into a secret network of tunnels beneath Jerusalem, where Pini waits to detonate the bomb.

The tension rises as the group races through the earth beneath the city. They find Itamar’s body in the tunnels—whether he fell or was killed by Pini remains unclear. They reach Pini, who is lying in a cave preparing to press the explosive button. Menachem and Michal plead with him, but he refuses to change course. As Pini reaches for the detonator, Menachem vaults onto him in a last-ditch effort to stop the blast. In the same instant, Mookie shoots and kills Pini. The trio—Menachem, Michal, and the remaining soldiers—emerge from the tunnels together.

The film underscores a Zionist upbringing and treats the Holy Land with reverence, maintaining a solemn mood throughout. Prayer and tradition are central, with soldiers breaking from training to read prayer books and lift their minds to God. The Rabbi’s strong religious authority is shown as trusted and guiding, with his students following him with unwavering faith.