A group of religious Israelis has been seen practicing the red heifer ritual, which they believe is a step towards constructing a new Jewish temple on the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Jewish tradition holds that the ashes of a perfectly red heifer are necessary for ritual purification, which would enable the building of a third temple in Jerusalem.
Radical Jewish groups assert that this temple should be erected on the elevated area in Jerusalem’s Old City, known as the Temple Mount, where Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock shrine currently stand.
Some believe this will signal the coming of the messiah and possibly the end of the world.
Picture was posted journalist Yinon Magal, accompanied by a picture of activists from the Temple Institute.
Five red heifers were arrived in Israel from Texas in 2022, these red heifers are reportedly kept at an archeological park next to Shilo, which is an illegal Israeli settlement near Nablus.
The Temple Institute imported the heifers to use in the ritual after years of searching for cows without any blemishes, including stray white or black hairs.
Advocates say that slaughtering the heifers on the Mount of Olives will allow Jewish people to be purified, enabling them to perform rites and worship at the site of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Research by a professor at Bar Ilan University estimates that the ashes of one cow could be made into enough cleansing water for 660 billion purifications.
The cow featured in Magal’s image does not appear to be one of the five red heifers from Shilo but rather a cutout.
The traditional site of the ritual, the Mount of Olives, is visible in the background on the other side of Al-Aqsa Mosque, suggesting the practice run was conducted within the Old City.
The status quo in Jerusalem has long prohibited Jewish prayer on the raised plateau in occupied East Jerusalem.
The site is believed to have housed two ancient Jewish temples. Jews are allowed to pray at the Western Wall, which runs alongside the hill and is considered the last remaining part of the Second Jewish Temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE.
Restrictions on non-Muslims entering the mosque have been in place since the Ottoman status quo, which designated Jerusalem’s holy sites to its sects, was established in 1757.
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