Budget Crisis Threatens Operation of Israel's Holy Sites Ahead of High Holidays

A severe budget crisis is threatening to halt the management of Israel's holy sites just before the High Holidays and Days of Atonement. Earlier this week, Yehuda Avidan, Director General of the Ministry of Religious Services, announced that due to a lack of funding for ongoing operations, caused by a temporary court order delaying approved budget transfers, the National Center for the Development of Holy Sites will have to cease its services starting early September. This announcement raised serious concerns about the disruption of daily operations at key religious sites, particularly the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in Meron.

In response, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, the Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites and chairman of the "Committee of Five," sent an urgent letter to Deputy Attorney General Dr. Gil Limon. Rabbi Rabinovitch issued an ultimatum stating that if the budget is not immediately resolved, he will resign from his position managing the Meron site. He warned that the situation poses a real danger to life, describing it as a matter of "pikuach nefesh" (saving a life) both in Meron and other holy sites. He emphasized that managing a complex and sensitive site that hosts hundreds of thousands of worshippers during the High Holidays, only five years after the tragic Meron disaster, without financial and operational stability, constitutes a severe safety risk that must not be ignored.