Jerusalem memorial site will remain open
Ammunition Hill saved at the last minute with special government funding
Mitch Ginsburg is the former Times of Israel military correspondent.
The museum and memorial site at Ammunition Hill, commemorating the soldiers killed during the 1967 battles for Jerusalem, will remain open and receive special funding, the government decided Monday evening.
Ammunition Hill was shut down on Monday afternoon due to lack of funds, only to be saved hours later as the government finished its emergency meeting.
Treasury and other government officials announced that more than NIS 1 million would be transferred to the site, following a meeting on Monday evening. The meeting took place as the site’s management announced its closure.
Following the allocation of funds, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was pleased the site would remain open to allow Israelis to learn about what took place at Ammunition Hill.
Lt. Col. (res) Katri Maoz, the director of the memorial site, said Monday before the government meeting, “I can’t believe that it has come to this but to our great dismay we have no choice but to shut down Ammunition Hill until we are given the necessary funds to operate it.”
Maoz, along with the sons and daughters of the fallen and other activists, folded the flag that had flown over the site and walked with it through the Old City to the Prime Minister’s Residence on Monday evening.
Earlier in the week, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said a rescue funding deal had been reached to avert the closure. However, the resources were only handed over after the site was shut down.
The battle of Ammunition Hill, fought in the trenches and costing 36 Israeli and 71 Jordanian lives, has long served as a symbol of Israeli heroism. Days after the war, Yoram Taharlev wrote a song called “On Ammunition Hill” that has served as an unofficial anthem of the Paratroopers. The brigade still issues its red berets there to all of its combat troops.