Hebron's Tomb of Patriarchs elevator project to receive NIS 1.5 million
MK Moshe Gafni: "It is enormously important to allow public sites to be accessible to the disabled, even more so for a sacred place like the Tomb of the Patriarchs."
By TOVAH LAZAROFFView of the Cave of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron on December 2, 2020. (photo credit: DAVID COHEN/FLASH 90)
The Knesset’s Finance Committee voted Sunday to transfer NIS 1.5 million for Hebron’s Tomb of the Patriarchs elevator project to allow the ancient biblical site to become wheelchair accessible.“It is enormously important to allow public sites to be accessible to the disabled, even more so for a sacred place like the Tomb of the Patriarchs,” Knesset’s Finance Committee chairman MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ) said.The project has been controversial, with opponents arguing it disrupts the archaeological integrity of the site. Palestinians have also protested. In order to push forward the project the IDF had to expropriate the land needed for the project from the Palestinian Authority. Under the terms of the 1997 Hebron agreement, the Palestinian run Hebron Municipality has auspices for such projects, but it had refused to advance it.
