The security establishment has instructed the Ministry of Religious Services and the Cemeteries Council to close the Sheikh Badr/Giv'at Ram cemetery next to the Knesset ahead of the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin between January 19th and 25th.
During the visit, the Putin is expected to attend a ceremony at a memorial next to the cemetery, which was a temporary burial ground during the War of Independence, when the roads to other cemeteries became dangerous. While most of its military and civilian graves were transferred to the Mount Herzl and Har Hamenuchot cemeteries in late 1950. Of the remaining graves, the grave of Rabbi Gedalia Moshe Goldman, the Zvhiller Rebbe, is regularly visited by hundreds of people.