Prime Minister Reaffirms Long-Standing Support of Securing Har Hazeisim
Yerushalayim…The first to greet Menachem Lubinsky, founding co-chairman of the International Committee for Har Hazeisim (ICHH) on his way to a meeting with Yoav Horowitz, Chief of Staff of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was none other than the PrimeMinister himself. The encounter which took place in the Knesset on December 12th led to the Prime Minister once again affirming that he “will do everything to secure and develop Har Hazeisim.”
Joined by Harvey Schwartz and Jeff Daube, co-chairmen of the Israel chapter of the ICHH, the Chief of Staff began by recounting a recent personal experience on Har Hazeisim. It seems that he had recently discovered the burial site of a loved one more than 70 years after being buried there. His family lost track of where the Kever is and recently Rabbi Hillel Horowitz of the Council of Cemeteries in Yerushalayim found the grave which was in desperate need of repair. The Horowitz family repaired the Kever and proceeded to organize a trip to the Kever where kaddish was recited. Mr. Horowitz is anxious for his 89-year old father, who suffered an eye injury while fighting in Gush Etzion in 1948, to be present for the upcoming groundbreaking of the Visitors Center.
Mr. Lubinsky praised the Prime Minister for his lead role in securing the holy mountain with its 150,000 Jewish neshomos. “He was the first Prime Minister to aggressively deal with the lawlessness, destruction, and abuse of graves on Har Hazeisim and that message has trickled down to every official working on Har Hazeieim, including the police and border police.” But even more promising is that despite the current political upheaval in Israel, with the exception of the Arab party, almost all MK’s favor a secure and completely accessible Har Hazeisim.
In addition to the Prime Minister, Chief of Staff and other officials in the Prime Minister’s Office, the ICHH officials also met with newly elected Mayor Moshe Lion (his first meeting with any group), many members of Knesset, Minister Zev Elkin and Minister Miri Regev. Mayor Lion also pledged to continue to upgrade the cemetery and to have a zero-tolerance policy on breaches in security. Minister Regev continues to fund many events on Har Hazeisim, including a large Chanukah gathering which saw more than 1500 people visit Har Hazeisim.
The ICHH leaders briefed the officials on the enormous progress that has been made in securing Har Hazeisim, including the surveillance cameras, fencing, lighting, sanitation, and upgrades in the infrastructure. This in addition to the strong presence of the Israeli Police and the Border Police.
Mr. Lubinsky also met with MK Yoav ben Zur, who heads the outgoing 67-member Knesset Caucus on Har Hazeisim as well as officials of the Prime Minister’s Office. He continued to press for the construction of the long planned Visitor Center which he said will be “the ultimate guarantee of security on Har Hazeisim for many years to come. “Inaddition to serving as a central education address on the 3000-yaer history of Har Hazeisim, a permanent police station will be part of the new magnificent building.”
As the ICHH officials toured the Knesset, they found universal support from all political streams in support of Har Hazeisim. “I have no doubt that the Caucus on Har Hazeisim will be reinstituted once a new Knesset is formed following the elections on April 9th,” Mr. Lubinsky concluded
