Public figures from the worlds of settlement, tourism, and heritage gathered for the inauguration of Herod’s Pool at Herodium, in an event led by the Heritage Ministry and Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu. Among the main guests was U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. Yehuda and Benjamin regional leaders called the reopening a historic moment, saying it links the future to the past and will send a significant message from the site.
Eli Shikli highlighted the site’s dual significance as both Herod’s palace and a center of the Bar Kokhba Revolt, saying it is now benefiting from major investment and a new push in tourism and development. Gush Etzion Regional Council head Yaron Rosental called the project “a dream come true,” recalling that just 2 years and 3 months ago the complex looked completely different. He said, “With God’s help this pool will fill with water and visitors, and even more than that, with content. Spirit is our strength.”
Efrat Council head Dovi Shefler said Herodium’s pool is one in a chain of reservoirs that collected water from Solomon’s Pools, and said the next restoration and preservation project will be Solomon’s Pools itself, adding that the plan is already agreed with the Archaeology Staff Officer and the Heritage Minister. MK Limor Son Har-Melech said it was moving to stand in a place where the Jewish story is being told again after attempts to erase it.
MK Yitzhak said that after 2,000 years of exile, Jews have returned to strengthen their hold on their ancestral land. Ze’ev Elkin, who lives nearby in Kfar Eldad and previously served as heritage minister, said the view of Herodium from his home makes the occasion especially emotional and described Eliyahu’s decision to invest in the lower Herodium pool as “a very important step” for heritage sites in Judea and Samaria. MK Moshe Solomon said the goal is to bring all Israelis to the site, connect them to their roots, and show that this is their land.
