Education Minister, Yitzchak Levi, has instructed the General
Director of the Antiquities Authority, Amir Drori, to draft a
proposed law to the effect that one who orders rescue
excavations (i.e., the property owner) must pay for them.
Levi's directives were made in the wake of the recent High
Court ruling that one who orders the rescue excavation
shouldn't be billed, and that the State should subsidize the
work. According to Levi, this decision has huge budgetary
implications which the State will not be able to handle. This
is liable to result in the canceling of excavations and in
the prolonged postponement of development and construction
work.
The implication of the Education Minister's directive is that
despite the decision of the High Court, the Antiquities
Authority will be able to continue, without any apparent
limit, to destroy Jewish graves and to desecrate the honor of
the deceased.
In a discussion with the General Director of the Antiquities
Authority, Amir Drori, Levi directed him to prepare the draft
of a proposed law, and he advised him to place this proposal
on the table of the Ministers' Legislative Committee.
Levi noted that every delay in the preparation of the
proposal and its presentation bears serious consequences in
the areas of development and construction and is liable to
result in the crippling of the activity of the Antiquities
Authority. "You must do your utmost to draft the proposal
immediately," the Education Minster said.
The Federation for the Prevention of the Desecration of
Graves reacted angrily to this latest step of the Education
Minister, who is quickly kowtowing to the Antiquities
Authority.
"First of all," the Federation stated, "the Education
Minister must change and amend the existing law, which
enables the archaeologists of the Antiquities Authority to
run rampant throughout the country and to desecrate thousands
of ancient graves, in a most grievous manner, every year.
"The primary concern of the Education Minister, who is in
charge of the Antiquities Authority and is a Torah-observant
Jew, must be to prevent the desecration of the graves, an
issue which deeply pains and disturbs hundreds of thousands
of Torah-observant Jews all over the world. Only after he has
done that, can he help the heads of the Antiquities Authority
to overcome the problem of the High Court ruling regarding
the financial aspect of the excavations, "according to the
Federation.
Upon learning of the Education Minister's announcement, Rabbi
Avrohom Ravitz, chairman of the Knesset's Finance Committee,
held a pointed discussion with him. At this meeting, the two
agreed that in addition to the new amendment to the law which
Levi requested, Levi must present an additional amendment
which will legally anchor the principal of safeguarding
Jewish graves from damages caused by the archaeologists. At
Rabbi Ravitz's suggestion, the Minister's Committee for
Legislation will prepare and present this amendment.
Rabbi Ravitz and Yitzchak Levi concluded that a possible
means for effecting the amendment of the law is to establish
a governmental committee with the authority to determine the
procedures for the conducting of excavations, in a matter in
which Jewish graves will not be desecrated -- a proposal
raised by Rabbi Ravitz in the past.
It is highly unlikely that Levi's proposed amendment will be
accepted in the Knesset if it doesn't have the support of the
religious parties. The only condition on which the religious
parties will agree to its passage is if Rabbi Ravitz's
proposed amendment is anchored in the law by the
government.
