Ashkelon, Israel – Five residents petitioned the High Court of Justice today, demanding that the construction of a fortified emergency room at Barzilai Hospital in the city be resumed.
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The construction was halted by the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Religious Affairs Yitzhak Cohen, who denied the hospital a construction permit because of an ancient cemetery located on the intended land. The government claims the graves cannot be moved despite the fact that the Chief Rabbinate permitted it.
The petitioners claim the halt in construction places Ashkelon’s residents in grave danger due to the rocket threat in the area.
“We cannot have a hospital that is under constant rocket threat aiming to paralyze it remain exposed and unfortified until the conflict between the different factions in the ultra-Orthodox public is solved,” the petition says.
The government ordered the hospital to be fortified and expanded a number of years ago, including the construction of a fortified emergency room and an underground bomb shelter.
But just as the construction was scheduled to get underway, an investigation on the scene unearthed the remains of ancient grave sites. The project was therefore brought to a halt six months ago and a team headed by the minister of religious affairs established to find a solution.
The Chief Rabbinate approved the transfer of the graves once it was established that no alternate site could be found for the fortified structures, but the decision sparked a massive protest within the ultra-Orthodox public.
Rabbis from within the sector published halacha verses arguing against the moving of the cemetery and calling the decision “a cynical abuse of the war”. Deliberations in the rabbinate are scheduled to continue until Wednesday, when the sides hope a solution will be found.
A rabbinate source familiar with the case said that “if the goal is to renew construction as soon as possible then everything should be done to please ‘Atra Kadisha’ and the ‘Association for the Prevention of Grave Desecration’. It’s clear that despite the decision there was no chance to further the plans in the next two years; these guys would never let it happen. They are a real Taliban bunch.”
I’m beyond angry…they should take these zealots aka “atra kadisha” and “relocate” them to a country of their choice outside of EY. The rabbonim have said its OK but we are being held hostage to a group of mindless hareidim who care more for the dead than the living. Hopefully hashem will give them their just reward for endangering thousands of yiddim in olam haboh but in the interim, we must simply ignore them and begin construction immediately. I know that on VIN we should avoid using comparisons to evil individuals of times past but this out of control group must be held to account for what they have done. Kol Hakovod to those who brought this lawsuit and hopefully the court will act quickly and forcefully.
Problem is that these Haredim are afraid that if a cemetery is moved in Israel then cemeteries throughout Europe will be desecrated.
ridiculous you’ve got a whole city to build in and you have to do it on top of graves. gotta be kidding.
This Rabanim are ra-banim. They work for the state of Isreal and are paid by them. Don’t be fooled. They have to give a heter or facing to lose their paycheck. Check out the history of the rabbinat.
without going into the halachic part. cause I’m no talmid chacam. but I have 1 simple question. when I purchase a house to live in it, when does my ownership cease?
after 100 years? 200?. in my humble opinon its should last forever! its mine to keep. so what changes when someone is buying a place to be buried? who says the hospital ownes the the plot? did they purchase it from the rightfull owners? NO!!
this has to do with life and death stupid. they need a fortified hospital. what a disgrace! i cant believe it
I’ll assume that the rabbinate rabbonim are independent enough to make a decision and not be duty bound to follow the state. Nonetheless, the unnamed rabbinate rabbonim are not necessarily from the gedolai hador and therefore, others with a different opinion have the right to challenge the rabbinate opinion. As for the first commentator, you clearly seem unaware of the severity of the desecration of a grave, and are all too ready to accept that building on the graveyard is the only vable alternative.
Anyone else see the irony here? Simon Weisenthal Center has been trying for years to build on a cemetery in Yerushalim. Read the article posted here a few days ago about Rabbi Heir wanting to use the Mufti’s decision from 1960 which said it was permissible to build.
It is ironic how some of you are saying that the Rabbinate’s decision is bogus since they are puppets, just like some are claiming the Muti’s decision is bogus since he was a puppet as well in the 60’s.
The Supreme Court just granted permission for the job to resume, I wonder how they would side with this case? If they don’t grant permission they will look like serious hypocrites in my opinion.