Rabbi Yisrael Ariel (1939 - ) was the chief rabbi of the evacuated Israeli settlement of Yamit in the Sinai desert during the years when the Sinai was controlled by Israel, and the founder of the Temple Institute (Machon HaMikdash). His brother, Rabbi Yaakov Ariel, served as the rosh yeshiva in the yeshiva in Yamit and is currently the chief rabbi of Ramat Gan.
As a young man, Ariel served in the Paratroopers Brigade unit that liberated the Western Wall (kotel) in the Six-Day War. For the 1981 Knesset elections, Ariel ran as number two on the Kach list with Rabbi Meir Kahane in the number one spot.
As of 2006, aside from being the head of the Temple Institute, he is also involved in an attempt to revive the Sanhedrin.
Rabbi Ariel urges that the Pesach sacrificial service on the Temple Mount should be resumed, and that the Temple should be rebuilt as soon as possible.
In December 2006, he was briefly arrested and interrogated by Israeli police after confronting General Elazar Stern, before being released.