The Esplanade of the Mosques, Islam’s third holiest site in the Old City of Jerusalem, is also the Temple Mount for Jews, the Holy of Holies, just above the Western Wall. There are the Al Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, but there also was the second Temple of the Jews, destroyed in 70 by the Romans.
For the most religious Jews, a temple must be rebuilt to prepare for the return of the Messiah. But for that, it is necessary to purify the priests of this future third temple. And how did we purify ourselves 2,500 years ago? We purified ourselves through contact with the ashes of perfectly red heifers slaughtered and cremated on purpose. But beware: no hair of another color should have appeared on the animal, it is even written in the Torah! But last week, five red heifers from Texas arrived at Tel Aviv airport, greeted by 300 Messianic Jews.
Jerusalem is the heart of the conflict: the question of holy places has blocked all peace agreements and sometimes provoked wars. The reconstruction of the temple would imply the destruction of the Muslim holy places of the Esplanade of the Mosques and would cause riots. It would no longer be a conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, it would be a religious war between Jews and Muslims, with the risk of at least a regional war.
Because far-right Jewish messianism has ramifications in the United States: these five cows were offered by evangelical Christians, supporters of the Republican Party and religious Zionism. It is the alliance of the American right, Trump-style, and the Israeli right, Netanyahu-style, who both hope to return to power: the American in 2024, the Israeli as of November 1.
In the meantime, the unsuspecting heifers live quietly somewhere in Israel. Several more months will pass before the examination of their red coat.