Ashkelon praises Barzilai decision

Mayor’s office: We will meet protests with protests

By BEN HARTMAN
barzilai hospital ashkelon 311 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
barzilai hospital ashkelon 311
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
The city of Ashkelon and supporters of the decision to let construction go ahead on a fortified emergency room at the city’s Barzilai Medical Center – construction delayed due to the discovery of ancient graves on the site – vowed to protest in kind to any demonstrations against the government decision, the mayor’s office said Tuesday.
“There are rumors going around that there will be protests against the decision, but if they happen we will protest, too. We hope that those who protest [against the decision] will do so in a democratic and legal way, but we reserve the right to do so as well,” the mayor’s office said Tuesday.
The Ashkelon mayor’s office and Barzilai Medical Center said Tuesday they hoped the construction of the new emergency room goes ahead as soon as possible and praised the decision made by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Monday to reverse a cabinet decision made last month to relocate the medical center’s planned fortified emergency department in Ashkelon due to the discovery of ancient bones at the site.
The mayor’s office added that the decision to move ahead with theproject means “400,000 or 500,000 citizens of the area – not justAshkelon, but Kiryat Gat and Ashdod as well – will be protected with anemergency room that can respond to a time of crisis.”
The office added that media attention and public protest against theoriginal decision were central to the prime minister’s final decision.
“The media attention helped a great deal, it made a huge difference. The moment the media got involved, everything changed.”