Last week, rabbonim and community leaders protested
desecration of burial caves located on the edges of the road
at the entrance to Haifa. The bones found in the caves were
subsequently reburied by Religious Affairs Ministry
inspectors.
Excavations on the site began two weeks ago. The Yefeh Nof
municipal company, with whom the Haifa Municipality had
contracted for the project, summoned the Antiquities
Authority to the site after burial caves were discovered on
the edges of the road at the entrance to Haifa, opposite the
Institute for the Study of Seas and Lakes. At the same time,
the company directors informed Religious Affairs Ministry
inspectors about their discovery.
Excavations, however, began even before the various bodies
had decided how to proceed. Members of the Federation for the
Prevention of the Desecration of Graves as well as other
rabbonim and public activists summoned to the site, protested
desecration of the graves.
Rabbi Chaim Williger, a member of the Haifa City Council, met
with heads of the company. They agreed that in the future no
excavations would be conducted prior to a discussion by the
Municipal Directorate, over which he presides.
