Antiquities Authority head Yehoshua Dorfman has announced that the authority will begin focusing on Jerusalem’s Old City, and will begin at least nine “large and long-term” excavations in the area. The authority has previously focused most of its activity in the central region.

Funding for five of the Old City excavations will come from “Ateret Cohanim” and “Elad,” organizations that work to study and protect the Jewish identity of Jerusalem. The funding will allow the Antiquities Authority to carry out its largest number of simultaneous excavations to date.