The victory of Judas Maccabaeus at Kafar Salama made it clear that the area north of Jerusalem was under his exclusive supervision. Nicanor, who from the base in the citadel controlled the Temple and the city, was in danger of being besieged. Aware of his difficult situation, he threatened the priests with the destruction of the Temple. According to the sources, the threat was designed to force them to turn over Judas Maccabaeus (I Macc. 7.33–8; II Macc. 14.31–6). However, since the latter did not recognize the authority of the Temple priests, and presumably most of them belonged to the high priest Alcimus’ faction which in any case supported Nicanor, it appears that the threat was aimed mainly at deterring the rebels from making an assault on the city and regaining control of it, while the Temple was Nicanor's ‘security’. Nevertheless, the threats against the Temple may also have been intended to persuade the Jewish rank and file, most of whom supported the Hasmonaeans, to hand over Judas Maccabaeus in order to avert the desecration of the Temple, the resumption of persecutions, and the reversion to the situation obtaining during the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes. Be that as it may, the sharp criticism of Nicanor voiced by the priests (I Macc. 7.36–8; II Macc. 14.34–6), if the wording in the sources is reliable, seems to testify to a change of heart in some of Alcimus’ supporters. It would not be unprecedented for moderates to have second thoughts in the face of sudden harsh measures and threats by foreign elements.