People with disabilities have to ascend 59 steps to get into the Cave of the Patriarchs. This year alone Border police officers were filmed, helping a disabled woman into the cave so she could pray in the Cave of the Patriarchs – the burial site of the Jewish patriarchs
translated by tomer fine
The accessibility law was legislated to help maintain human dignity, place in the country on is own, without requiring assistance. "It is not the first time people with disabilities needed help to reach the Cave of the Patriarchs entry level. In one case a senior woman had to withstand a degrading experience in order to get to the cave's entry-level after the border police officered lifted her wheel-chair 59 steps" said Karzan Elimelech – the spokesman for the Cave of the Patriarchs. Karzan added, " as absurd has it sounds, the cave if listed as a property owned by the Muslim Waqf, the Cave of the Patriarchs, the site where the mothers and fathers of the Jewish people rest their eternal slumber, is owned by the descendants of Hagar – our ancestors female-slave. As far as the Waqf is concerned – the senior woman and the entire Jewish people can stay out
"We have a full accessibility plan for the cave, that will make it accessible for all, starting from the ground floor, directly into the entry-level. The plan is over 13-year-old, it was already approved by all of the authorization mechanisms", adds Karzan
Last week, a letter was sent for the GOC of the Central Command, Nadav Padan by Michael Litvak advocate, who represents "Btsalmo" organization, and it's CEO, Shay Shmay GlickIn his letter, Advocate Litvak states, since the accessibility law was applied all over Yehuda And Shomron, back at 2014, The Cave of the Patriarchs needs to be made accessible for disabled people. Litvak further stated that it is unthinkable that a site with such a robust Jewish affinity will not be accessible for disabled Jews. The Commission for equal rights of persons with disabilities holds say in the area of accessibility since 2014; the commision could have promoted a course to make the cave accessible
We tried contacting The Commission for equal rights of persons with disabilities, but as of today, no response was received. We contacted the Civil Administration, which responded as following "the ministry of the Defence and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories are working on finding a solution for the accessibility issue in the cave of the patriarchs, and see it's importance, several alternatives are being inspected