Over 400 children from the South visited the Knesset on Tuesday, participating
in special activities out of the line of fire.
The children and parents
from Ashkelon, Beersheba, Kiryat Gat and Moshav Even Shmuel were greeted by
Knesset tour guides who handed out snacks. They met Knesset Speaker Reuven
Rivlin, saw a magician perform in the Chagall Hall and had lunch in the Knesset
cafeteria.
“The Chagall Hall, where you are sitting, is meant for very
fancy ceremonies with presidents from around the world, but none were as
important to the Knesset as this meeting with you today,” Rivlin told the
youngsters.
The Knesset speaker said he is sure the battle will come to
an end, because “this is our land and no one will move us from
here.”
Albert Cohen, a social worker from Beersheba who accompanied the
children, said their bus had to stop twice on the way to the Knesset because of
Color Red rocket warning sirens.
“This is the first time in a week these
children went out,” Cohen said. “For them, this visit is a break from the
sirens. The minute we left Beersheba, I saw the children smile.”
A siren
went off during the visit, and the children were taken to a safe area behind the
plenum chamber.
About 1,200 residents of the South are expected to visit
the Knesset in the next three days. Funding for the activities and the buses
came from the Knesset’s budget.