Montefiore windmill restored and rotating again

Prime Minister Netanyahu thanks Christian Zionism for restoring a landmark in Jerusalem.

By CHRISTIAN EDITION STAFF
Moses Montefiore Windmill 390 (photo credit: Courtesy, the Jerusalem Foundation)
Moses Montefiore Windmill 390
(photo credit: Courtesy, the Jerusalem Foundation)
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu recently presided over the dedication of the restored Montefiore Windmill some 135 years after its blades first began to turn in the Mishkenot Sha’ananim neighborhood, the first suburb in modern Jerusalem built outside the Old City walls.
The landmark windmill was originally built in 1858 by Jewish philanthropist Moses Montefiore to provide jobs and encourage settlement in the new village being planted to the west of Jaffa Gate. Although it soon fell into disrepair and stopped grinding grain within 20 years, the windmill nonetheless became a symbol of the new western Jerusalem.
The windmill has been restored with contributions from the Jerusalem Foundation, the Holland-based group Christians for Israel, the Tourism Ministry, the Municipality of Jerusalem and the national heritage program launched by the Prime Minister’s Office.
The windmill’s façade was restored to its original look, including white wings on the windmill blades, and machinery was installed to enable the arms to turn in the wind again and to grind grain as it did in the 1860s.
In his remarks at the dedication ceremony, Prime Minister Netanyahu began with a special thanks to the Christians who had supported the restoration project.
“I don’t believe that the Jewish State and modern Zionism would have been possible without Christian Zionism,” insisted Netanyahu. “We always had the deeply ingrained desire to come back to our land and rebuild it, [but] it was made possible in the 19th century by the resurgence of Christian Zionism and European support for Zionism, most especially in Great Britain.”
He singled out for special mention “the Palestine Exploration Fund, which was a scientific fund created by Queen Victoria, and the many Christian friends that we had, including Dutch people in the 19th century, Americans, Englishmen, Frenchmen, who visited the Holy Land by the hundreds, including famous writers.”
“We value our friends, and we never forget them, and we think that you [Christian Zionists] have helped establish here a powerful memorial to our friendship and our common ideals,” Netanyahu added.