Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the son of former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, said on Wednesday that Be’er Sheva, Israel’s southern capital, has become a more religious city over the past 40 years.

“Forty years ago, when my father was a religious judge here, there was a lack of religious in the city,” he said. “Now, Be’er Sheva has become a light of religion for the entire Negev.”