Moledet members led by Rabbi Benny Elon marched yesterday against the army\'s recommendation to leave Rachel\'s Tomb on the \"other side\" of the security partition surrounding Jerusalem. The holy site is in Bethlehem, only about 500 meters south of Jerusalem\'s municipal border, but the army claims that it would have to destroy \"dozens of buildings\" in order to properly secure the area. The military plan proposes a guarded route leading from Jerusalem to Rachel\'s Tomb.
\"Every plan that leaves Kever Rachel outside our sphere of supervision endangers our future hold on Kever Rachel,\" MK Elon said. \"We refuse to abandon Rachel\'s Tomb the way we abandoned Joseph\'s Tomb [in Shechem]. If a few homes have to be destroyed and their occupants relocated, that is not as important [as ensuring that] Kever Rachel remains in Israeli hands. We have gotten over 50 MKs to sign a petition on this matter. I have spoken to Prime Minister Sharon about this, Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert is working very strongly to ensure that Kever Rachel stays in Jerusalem, and we will not let up until the holy burial site of the Matriarch Rachel is included as part of Jerusalem.\"
Former MK Chanan Porat is one of those who favor a strong Jewish residential presence at the site. This might have happened earlier had then-Prime Minister Levi Eshkol gotten his way immediately after the Six-Day War. Eshkol instructed at the time that Rachel\'s Tomb be included within the newly-redrawn municipal borders of Jerusalem. He found out several months later, however, that his orders had been disregarded, and that the border was instead demarcated less than 500 meters away from Kever Rachel.
\"Every plan that leaves Kever Rachel outside our sphere of supervision endangers our future hold on Kever Rachel,\" MK Elon said. \"We refuse to abandon Rachel\'s Tomb the way we abandoned Joseph\'s Tomb [in Shechem]. If a few homes have to be destroyed and their occupants relocated, that is not as important [as ensuring that] Kever Rachel remains in Israeli hands. We have gotten over 50 MKs to sign a petition on this matter. I have spoken to Prime Minister Sharon about this, Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert is working very strongly to ensure that Kever Rachel stays in Jerusalem, and we will not let up until the holy burial site of the Matriarch Rachel is included as part of Jerusalem.\"
Former MK Chanan Porat is one of those who favor a strong Jewish residential presence at the site. This might have happened earlier had then-Prime Minister Levi Eshkol gotten his way immediately after the Six-Day War. Eshkol instructed at the time that Rachel\'s Tomb be included within the newly-redrawn municipal borders of Jerusalem. He found out several months later, however, that his orders had been disregarded, and that the border was instead demarcated less than 500 meters away from Kever Rachel.