It's insane to me and I don't think many people realize that a large part of American (civilian, non-academic, "salt of the earth" types) support for Israel is directly tied to eschatology.

A huge swath of Christians (and some Jews, and some Muslims) believe the Third Temple has to be built where the Dome of the Rock currently stands before their messiah can return. It's literally a doomsday cult, they expect/want WWIII.