Wilson's Arch excavations
Wilson's Arch excavationsYaniv Berman, Israel Antiquities Authority

The Cabinet Ministers will approve a call today (Sunday) to further increase the budget of the Five Year Plan to upgrade infrastructure and encourage visits to the Western Wall plaza.

The original budget of the plan, approved by the government in 2015, stood at NIS 100 million for the 5 years between 2016 and 2020, which is the second addition to this budget.

The current addition, of NIS 16 million, will come from the Ministry of Finance's budget (NIS 4 million in 2019) and the Ministry of Tourism's budget (NIS 6 million in 2019 and NIS 6 million in 2020).

According to the resolution, the budget addition is intended "for the construction and development of the Western Wall and the Western Wall tunnels, including the exposure and preservation of archaeological finds and other issues as decided."

The proposal also makes it clear that the budget that the Ministry of Tourism, NIS 12 million, will be used to finance works to expose the Western Wall's restaurant blocks at the foot of Wilson's Arch.