Etzion's preparations to blow up the Dome of the Rock included studying its defenses, drawing maps, acquiring aerial photos and collecting relevant intelligence. Before his arrest in the spring of 1984, Etzion had acquired four major explosive devices (20 kilograms each) that were intended to bring down the four pillars of the Dome as well as twelve medium-sized explosive devices (7 kilograms each) that would bring down the twelve columns surrounding the Dome. In an interview with Ari Shavit, Etzion said of the preparations: In my mind I already saw the Dome collapsing on itself with a huge cloud of rising dust. And then the confusion stops and Israel's stuttering stops and there is clarity at last as one chapter ends and another begins. Etzion has said he was fascinated by the Temple Mount in Jerusalem since childhood and that he became fixated on the need to reclaim it after the Six Day War broke out. The Temple Mount is the focal point of the land. But it is in the hands of gentiles. As long as the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Omar mosque stand on the Temple Mount, there can be no salvation for Israel.